9:41 AM ET

The International Olympic Committee urged sports bodies on Monday to exclude Russia's athletes and officials from international events.

The IOC said it was necessary to protect the integrity of global sports competitions and for the safety of all the participants.

Russia will not be allowed to play in a World Cup playoff match on March 24 if the decision is upheld. Poland did not want to play the game against Russia.

The Olympic body called on athletes and officials from Belarus, which has abetted Russia's invasion by allowing its territory to be used to station troops and launch military attacks.

The IOC said it acted with a heavy heart, but the impact of war on Ukrainian sports was more important than the damage done to athletes from Russia and Belarus.

The IOC did not impose a total ban. If exclusion was not possible on short notice for organizational or legal reasons, then teams from Russia and Belarus should compete as neutral athletes with no national flag, anthem or symbols.

The IOC withdrew the Olympic Order it gave to Putin in 2001.

On Monday, sports bodies across Europe refused to host or play against teams from Russia.

The Russian hockey team will not be allowed to play in the men's world championships in May, the Swiss soccer federation said its women's team will not play Russia in July, and the German soccer club said it had decided to end.

Russia won't be banned from the World Cup. The soccer body said that the national team will have to compete as the Football Union of Russia. Sweden and the Czech Republic have both said they would not take the field against Russia.

The Swedish Football Association is disappointed with the decision of the world governing body, but is determined to work together with other federations to cancel Russia's World Cup matches.

The World Cup is going to be held in the Middle East.

Spartak Moscow is scheduled to play in the European club soccer competition next week. Spartak was allowed to take its place in the round of 16 draw after Putin ordered the invasion to start.

Russian teams are expected to be excluded from the competition by the IOC after a meeting of the executive committee.

There is precedent for removing Russian teams from sports. When war broke out in the Balkans in 1992, Yugoslavia was kicked out of its competitions.

It is expected that the company will see if it can get rid of its sponsorship deals with the company. The European Championship is sponsored by Gazprom.

Russia was allowed to continue competing in the World Cup qualification playoffs by FIFA, which has attracted the most criticism. The option of a ban is still open.

Russia was ordered to play at neutral venues without its flag and anthem, and under the name of the Football Union of Russia.

That is in line with the sanctions imposed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in December 2020 to punish Russia for state-backed drug use and cover-ups.

The Russian soccer team was due to play under those conditions if they qualified for the World Cup. European qualification games are the only punishment for the war because of the conditions applied by FIFA.

Russia would face either Sweden or the Czech Republic on March 29 if they beat Poland on March 24.

The president of the Swedish soccer federation said he expected a sharper stance from the world governing body.

Cezary Kulesza, president of the Polish soccer federation, said Sunday that Poland is not interested in playing in the World Cup and that it was unacceptable that Russia was not kicked out immediately.

Albania said it would not play against Russia in any sports. Russia and Albania are going to play each other twice in June. The group also includes Israel.

The governing body of hockey has come under pressure from Switzerland and Finland to ban Russia from the world championship in May.

The chairman of the hockey association said in a statement Monday that it had talks with the IIHF to exclude the two countries from the sport internationally.