Belarus 2020 Summer Olympics scandal

On 1 August 2021, it was reported that Belarusian sprinter Krystsina Tsimanouskaya was in the process of being repatriated to Belarus from Tokyo, Japan, against her will, and had been removed from competing at the 2020 Summer Olympics, for posting a video on social media that was critical of her coaches.

[9] On 30 July 2021, Tsimanouskaya recorded an Instagram video criticising officials from the NOC RB, saying that they had entered her in the 4 × 400 m relay race, a distance she had never contested, without asking her.

[12] On 1 August 2021, Belarusian media reported the attempt to forcibly return Tsimanouskaya to Belarus after she shared another video from Haneda Airport in Tokyo, asking for help.

[23] Despite Zdanevich's assurance that Tsimanouskaya was apolitical, many Belarusian government supporters sent her threatening messages; the BSSF determined her life would be in danger if she returned to Belarus and encouraged her to travel to Poland.

[11] The state-owned Belarusian network Belarus-1 reported on 31 July that she was removed from the team for being unsportsmanlike, saying that she was "lazy", "foul-bred", and "unpatriotic", and did not deserve to represent Belarus; it also criticized the strictness of the IOC which prohibited the original relay runners from competing.

[28] On 3 August, the IOC launched an investigation of the incident, demanding a report from the NOC RB by the end of the day explaining why they attempted to repatriate Tsimanouskaya.

On this day, as part of the investigation, the IOC revoked the accreditation of two Belarusian delegates, head athletics coach Yuri Moisevich and team official Artur Shimak, who were asked to leave the Olympic Village.

[29] President of the IOC Thomas Bach and the Japanese foreign ministry both gave statements on 6 August describing what happened to Tsimanouskaya as "deplorable" and "unjust".

[33] On 3 February 2022, the United States imposed visa restrictions on Belarusian nationals involved in extraterritorial counter-dissident activity, including the Olympics scandal, under the Khashoggi Ban.

[35][36][37] On 9 August, the one-year anniversary of his controversial re-election, Lukashenko held a lengthy conference in Minsk, saying that he believed Tsimanouskaya would not have made the allegations herself and asserting she had been manipulated by people in Poland.