FIBA lifts restrictions on Russian and Belarusian players and officials, return of national teams still pending
The International Basketball Federation FIBA has lifted, with immediate effect, restrictions on individual Russian and Belarusian players, coaches, referees, commissioners and other officials in basketball and 3x3 basketball. According to FIBA's official statement of September 1, 2026, individuals from Russia and Belarus may once again participate in all competitions under the auspices of the world federation, while officials may be nominated to work at those events. The decision represents the largest easing of FIBA's measures toward representatives of the two countries since restrictions were introduced following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. However, for now the change applies only to individuals and does not automatically mean the return of Russian and Belarusian national teams or clubs to international competitions. FIBA intends to decide separately on their possible reintegration, with an assessment of security, logistical and anti-doping conditions.
FIBA announced that it had aligned its new policy with decisions made by the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee in May and July 2026. On May 7, the IOC lifted previously recommended restrictions on Belarusian athletes and teams, while on July 7 it provisionally lifted the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee and concluded that its earlier recommendations restricting the participation of Russian athletes and teams were no longer applicable. FIBA subsequently accepted the immediate return of individuals but left the issue of teams open. This created a transitional regime in which nationality alone no longer excludes an individual player or official from FIBA competitions, while the collective participation of national teams and clubs from Russia and Belarus remains unauthorized.
What changes immediately
According to the decision of the FIBA Executive Committee, the lifting of restrictions covers players, coaches, referees, commissioners and other officials in traditional basketball and in the 3x3 discipline. FIBA's wording explicitly states that individual Russian and Belarusian players may participate and officials may be nominated in all FIBA competitions with immediate effect. This means that the previous general ban linked to their affiliation with Russia or Belarus is no longer an obstacle to individual participation in the competitive system of the world basketball federation. At the same time, every specific participation must still comply with the rules of the individual competition, registration requirements, the status of the player or official and other applicable FIBA regulations. In its statement, FIBA did not publish a specific list of competitions or additional transitional deadlines, but formulated the decision as a general and immediate lifting of restrictions on individuals.
The most important limit of the new decision concerns team participation. Russian and Belarusian national teams are not being returned by this decision to qualifiers, continental championships, world competitions or the Olympic qualification system, and the same applies to clubs representing the two national federations. FIBA announced that it will continue discussions on the reintegration of national teams and clubs with the International Olympic Committee, the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations ASOIF and other international federations governing Olympic team sports. At the center of those discussions will be logistical issues and player safety, including how a possible return could be integrated into the existing international calendar. Specific measures are expected to be considered at the meeting of the FIBA Central Board in December 2026.
The return of national teams is also linked to the path toward Los Angeles 2028
FIBA particularly emphasized that future solutions must also be considered in the context of the qualification pathway to the Olympic Games in Los Angeles 2028. The problem is not only political or security-related but also competitive, because many qualification cycles have already begun without the Russian and Belarusian national teams. At the end of 2025, the FIBA Central Board had already stated that participation in major FIBA competitions in 2026 and 2027 had become impossible through the regular qualification pathway because the qualifiers were already underway. At that time, FIBA left open the possibility of introducing extraordinary competition measures so that, when conditions allow, players from the two federations could retain a route toward Olympic qualification for LA28. The latest decision from September 2026 has once again placed that possibility at the center of discussion, but without a predetermined model.
This means that a possible return of the national teams cannot be reduced to simply lifting the ban. FIBA will have to decide how to deal with qualification games that have already been played, filled groups, schedules and places earned through continental or other qualification competitions. The official statement has not yet specified whether special qualifiers, additional places, changes to existing formats or another solution would be considered. This is precisely why the December meeting of the Central Board is more important than the decision itself on whether to allow or deny the return. It should show whether FIBA can find a workable model that will neither disrupt qualifications that have already begun nor fail to address the broader security and regulatory requirements.
IOC first changed its approach to Belarus, then to Russia as well
The change in FIBA's policy directly follows the change of direction within the Olympic movement. On May 7, 2026, the IOC Executive Board announced that it no longer recommends restrictions on the participation of Belarusian athletes, including teams, in competitions organized by international federations and other sports-event organizers. This withdrew, for Belarus, the recommended conditions from February 2022 and March 2023, under which athletes from Belarus and Russia could return under strictly defined conditions and as individual neutral athletes. The IOC explained its change through a broader approach according to which athletes' participation should not automatically be restricted because of the actions of their governments. However, international federations retained the possibility of determining through their own rules and assessments how such recommendations would be implemented in individual sports.
For Russia, the key decision was made on July 7, 2026, when the IOC provisionally lifted the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee that had been in effect since October 2023. The IOC stated that a legal analysis had established that the Russian Olympic Committee no longer had among its members regional sports organizations from territories that, according to the Olympic system, fall under the jurisdiction of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine. According to the IOC, the Russian side also confirmed that it does not conduct and will not in the future conduct activities in those territories. In the same decision, the IOC concluded that the earlier recommended conditions for the participation of Russian athletes and teams were no longer applicable to international federations and competition organizers.
The change, however, does not mean that all issues concerning Russia's return to the Olympic system have been resolved. The IOC retained the right to continue monitoring the activities of the Russian Olympic Committee and the possibility of taking new measures if it considers them necessary. It also stated that it would not itself organize its events in Russia or invite Russian state and government officials to IOC events. The decision on the possible use of the Russian flag, anthem, colors and other national symbols at the Olympic Games was left for later. FIBA is therefore now operating in an environment in which the IOC's previous general recommendations have been withdrawn, but individual international federations must still resolve the practical consequences of the return themselves.
Anti-doping conditions remain a particularly sensitive issue
In its latest statement, FIBA explicitly stated that an appropriate anti-doping program will be among the specific conditions for future decisions on the return of teams. This element is particularly important in Russia's case because, when lifting the previous restrictions, the IOC imposed additional requirements on athletes returning to international competition. According to the IOC's July decision, returning Russian athletes must be included in the national anti-doping program delegated to the International Testing Agency, ITA. The IOC also stated that athletes re-entering international competitions must be tested multiple times before returning, depending on the risk assessment for the individual sport. International federations are expected to agree with the ITA on the appropriate scope and timing of testing.
The IOC additionally emphasized that if the Russian Anti-Doping Agency RUSADA remains non-compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code in 2028, the ITA should ensure independent testing of all qualified Russian athletes before the Olympic Games in Los Angeles. This shows that lifting sporting restrictions does not eliminate anti-doping controls or return the system to its pre-2022 state without additional checks. For FIBA, this creates another layer of organizational obligations if it opens the door to Russian national teams or clubs in December. In a team sport, such a program must cover a larger number of players over a longer period and must also be coordinated with the schedule of qualifiers, national-team camps and international club competitions. FIBA has not yet published a detailed model, but has confirmed that an adequate anti-doping framework will form part of the Central Board's decision.
Measures were introduced in 2022 and gradually expanded to national teams and clubs
Today's change takes on greater significance when compared with the policy FIBA introduced after the start of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. At that time, following the decision of the IOC Executive Board, the world basketball federation announced that Russian teams and officials would not be allowed to participate in FIBA basketball and 3x3 competitions until further notice. FIBA confirmed that direction in March 2022 and, in May of the same year, adopted more detailed decisions that also applied to Belarus. These included withdrawing national teams from certain qualifiers and championships, prohibiting official FIBA competitions from being held in Russia and Belarus and excluding clubs from European competitions managed by FIBA. Russia was, among other things, withdrawn from EuroBasket 2022, while Russian and Belarusian clubs lost the right to enter EuroLeague Women, EuroCup Women and the FIBA Europe Cup for the 2022/23 season.
The restrictions remained in force over the following years while other international federations applied different models for the return of individuals, mostly through neutral status and additional conditions. FIBA meanwhile reconsidered the position of Russia and Belarus several times but did not allow their return to team competitions. At the end of 2025, the Central Board maintained the existing status while simultaneously opening the possibility of extraordinary measures linked to Olympic qualification for 2028. The latest decision therefore does not represent a complete break with the policy introduced in 2022, but rather the first major separation between individual and team status. Individuals may return immediately, while the collective participation of the two federations is still under assessment.
The decision has also prompted opposition in parts of the European basketball community
FIBA's easing of restrictions has not passed without criticism. In Lithuania, the association Lietuvos krepšinis, which represents the national basketball organization, publicly condemned the decision to allow the return of Russian and Belarusian individuals. The association's Secretary General Dominykas Domarkas told Lithuanian public broadcaster LRT that the organization does not support the return of Russian representatives to the major international stage while the war in Ukraine continues. At the same time, according to LRT, Lithuania's Ministry of Education, Science and Sport stated that it does not encourage athletes to boycott competitions, but believes they should compete against representatives of Russia and Belarus on the field of play. These different reactions show that the debate over a possible return of national teams could be politically and organizationally more sensitive than the return of individuals.
For FIBA, the December decision will therefore have to cover more than sporting criteria. The potential return of Russian and Belarusian national teams and clubs raises questions about the safety of players and officials, the feasibility of travel and hosting, the continuity of qualification processes already underway and equal treatment of other participants. FIBA itself has not yet published a final model or promised that the teams will return, but has announced that specific decisions will be made only after further work with the IOC, ASOIF and other international team-sport federations. For that reason, the decision of September 1 is primarily important as a change in the status of individuals and as the opening of a process that could lead in December to a much broader change in the international basketball order.
What remains undecided until December
Until the meeting of the FIBA Central Board, several key questions remain without an official answer. It has not been confirmed when, in the event of a positive decision, the Russian and Belarusian national teams could play their first official games, nor in which competitions they could appear. The mechanism for possible inclusion in Olympic qualification for Los Angeles 2028 is also unknown, particularly because the relevant qualification processes are already underway. FIBA has also not announced whether a possible return of national teams and clubs would take place simultaneously or whether decisions on them would be made separately. Details of security protocols, the organization of games and the anti-doping system that will be required before broader reintegration also remain open.
What has been clear since September 1, 2026 is that Russian and Belarusian basketball individuals are no longer covered by FIBA's general restrictions solely because of their nationality. For players, coaches, referees, commissioners and other officials, this means the immediate restoration of the opportunity to work and compete within the international FIBA system, subject to ordinary sporting and regulatory rules. For national teams and clubs, however, the status has not changed. The final scope of the new policy will become known only after FIBA defines how to reconcile the return of teams with existing competitions, security obligations, Olympic qualification and anti-doping requirements. The FIBA Central Board is expected to decide on these specific measures in December 2026.
Sources:
- FIBA - official Executive Committee statement of September 1, 2026 on lifting restrictions on Russian and Belarusian individuals and further consideration of the return of teams (link)
- International Olympic Committee - decision of July 7, 2026 on the provisional lifting of the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee and the termination of the application of previous recommended restrictions (link)
- International Olympic Committee - decision of May 7, 2026 on lifting recommended restrictions on Belarusian athletes and teams (link)
- FIBA - overview of the 2022 decisions withdrawing Russian and Belarusian national teams and clubs from international competitions (link)
- FIBA - Central Board decision from the end of 2025 on the status of Russia and Belarus and possible extraordinary measures on the pathway to LA28 (link)
- LRT - report on the reaction of the Lithuanian basketball organization and the position of Lithuania's Ministry of Education, Science and Sport following FIBA's decision (link)