To play, or not to play, that is the question!

Picture this It is the final of the menrsquos singles tennis event the Russian Daniil Medvedev breaks his opponentrsquos serve mixing angles with the sparkling freshness of a school boy armed with a brandnew geometry box as his opponent falls just fractionally off his game and ndash a millisecond later ndash Medvedev is triumphantly celebrating goldFarfetched Barely The International Olympic Committee IOC is determined to establish a pathway for the Russian athletes to compete in the French capital Turns out it wonrsquot be deterred by widespread condemnation from Ukrainian athletes or the expectation that 35 countries including the UK and United States will call for a banA year before the Paris Olympics and nearly a yearandahalf since RussiaUkraine war officials governing many of the sports on the 2024 program are still split on how to treat Russian athletes Increasingly various governing bodies are allowing them back into Olympic qualifying competitions as neutral competitors without national flags or anthems Most sports initially barred Russians from competing soon after the warThe IOC strongly backs those moves even as the body itself says it hasnrsquot decided if athletes from Russia and ally Belarus can compete at the Paris Games However the IOC has delayed action on the one sport whose qualification it runs inhouse boxingMost of the sports which have allowed Russians to return also followed IOC advice on its preferred name mdash individual neutral athletes mdash and to keep barring those who are under contract with the military or who have supported the war publicly The IOC also recommends blocking Russia from team sports like soccer or basketballAlso Read The man in white is not always rightUkraine is opposed to any Russians competing Since last year Ukrainian athletes and national teams have been boycotting competitions which allow Russians back in a policy enforced in April by a government decree Activists from Ukraine have been trawling Russian athletesrsquo social media for prowar posts that could disqualify them from competing In that vein let us take a close look at the situation for Russian and Ukrainian athletes in key sports on the Olympic programTrack and FieldWorld Athletics excluded athletes from Russia and Belarus from competitions after the RussiaUkraine war That remains in place ldquofor the foreseeable futurerdquo after a vote of the World Athletics council in March President Sebastian Coe said at the time that deaths and destruction in Ukraine have only ldquohardenedrdquo his resolve to keep a ban in placeSwimmingWorld Aquatics has to be one of the most important events taking over the sporting landscape in Russia It has said it favours Russia and Belarus returning to its sports mdash swimming diving water polo artistic swimming mdash but set up a task force that wonrsquot report back with suggestions until late July That means no Russians at the world championships this month in JapanTennisThe big exception among Olympic sports is tennis The menrsquos and womenrsquos tours didnrsquot exclude Russian or Belarusian players when the war began They even fined tournaments including Wimbledon which did impose restrictionsUkrainian players continued competing but often refused to shake hands with Russians or Belarusians Aryna Sabalenka who is from Belarus and won the Australian Open in January has been questioned about her past support for Belarusrsquo authoritarian leader President Alexander Lukashenko She has said she does not support the warRussian and Belarusian players still canrsquot enter national team competitions like the Davis Cup and Billie Jean King Cup The International Tennis Federation hasnrsquot made a final decision on the Olympics but has plenty of time because qualification is decided by the June 2024 world rankingsGymnasticsGymnasts from Russia and Belarus will be allowed to take part in sanctioned competitions as ldquoindividual neutral athletesrdquo from the start of 2024 That timetable pushed their return beyond the world championships in early October in BelgiumRussian gymnasts have been some of the most vocal supporters of the war Days after the RussiaUkraine began Ivan Kuliak wore a prowar ldquoZrdquo symbol on a competition podium while standing next to a Ukrainian athlete He was suspended for a year Other Russian gymnasts appeared on stage at a rally in support of the war and Olympic gold medalist Nikita Nagornyy heads a military youth organisation in RussiaBoxingThis is the one sport the IOC has total control over but that doesnrsquot mean a quick decision The IOC is running Olympic boxing in Paris and qualifiers inhouse after a longrunning feud with the International Boxing Association and its Russian president Qualifiers were held at the European Games in June but the host nation Poland refused to allow any Russian athletes A plan to qualify Russians via the Asian Games has been suggested but not confirmed That could mean any Russian return only happens at two lastchance qualifying tournaments in early 2024Combat SportsSports like fencing judo and taekwondo have seen some of the most bitter disputes Ukraine boycotted the world championships in both judo and taekwondo taking a big hit to its Olympic qualifying hopes after Russians were allowed to compete In judo the ldquoneutralrdquo delegation of Russian athletes included some previously listed by the Defense Ministry as holding military ranks The International Judo Federation which had last year opposed excluding any Russians said all the Russian competitors were employed at a state sports training facilityUkraine is also boycotting some events at the fencing world championships in Italy another key Olympic qualifier The International Fencing Federation mdash whose former president Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov said last year he was stepping aside from his duties mdash has been a strong supporter of reintroducing Russian and Belarusian fencers this year Competition organisers in several European countries cancelled their events in protests disrupting the Olympic qualifying calendar and the European Championships were stripped of their status as a qualifier when Poland refused to allow Russians to competeTeam SportsDonrsquot expect to see Russian teams competing in soccer volleyball basketball or handball at the Paris Olympics The IOC still backs excluding Russia from team sports and no Olympic sport has yet defied that regulation In some events like menrsquos basketball and soccer Russia has already missed its last chance to qualify The IOC also recommends a ban on ldquoteam events in individual sportsrdquo like relay races or the team allaround in gymnasticsOther SportsRussia is boycotting weightlifting events after its team refused to sign a waiver accepting the conditions for ldquoneutralrdquo status including a promise to ldquocontinue to abstain from expressing any support to the warrdquo Belarusian athletes signed and are competingSome sports like archery have delayed things further World Archery is exploring plans for a Russian return but said in February it would be ldquovery unlikelyrdquo this year potentially restricting Russia to a limited number of events in the months just before the OlympicsCanoeing is planning to allow Russians back in some Olympic qualifiers but is giving the local organisers of each competition a veto Rowing will only allow single sculls and pairs no larger Russian crews