Skip navigation
Favorites
Sign up to follow your favorites on all your devices.
Sign up

Russian flags allowed for fans at Olympics

Luge - Winter Olympics Day 5

SOCHI, RUSSIA - FEBRUARY 12: A fan waves a Russian national flag as others take photographs after the Men’s Luge Doubles on Day 5 of the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics at Sliding Center Sanki on February 12, 2014 in Sochi, Russia. (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)

Getty Images

MOSCOW (AP) — The International Olympic Committee says Russian fans will be allowed to fly their flag at the PyeongChang Olympics, but organized protests could bring further sanctions.

Russia has been banned from the games but some of the country’s athletes will be allowed to compete in neutral uniforms under the Olympic flag.

The IOC says its ban on athletes wearing the Russian tricolor doesn’t apply to fans, saying this “cannot be prohibited.”

However, the IOC adds that “should this appear to be an organized political demonstration the IOC will take this into consideration in its monitoring system.”

That could mean Russia won’t get to march with its flag at the Closing Ceremony, which the IOC has offered as an incentive for the country to comply with its rulings.

OlympicTalk is on Apple News. Favorite us!

MORE: Russia Olympic men’s hockey roster named