What Countries Are Banned From the Olympics, 1920 to 2024

Key points from the map

The map names 13 countries that it says were banned from the Olympic Games between 1920 and 2024.
It groups the reasons as war aggression, doping, political stances and violations of International Olympic Committee (IOC) rules.
Eight countries are listed for war aggression, including Germany (1920, 1924, 1948) and Japan (1948) after the two World Wars, and Russia and Belarus in 2024.
South Africa has the longest record on the map, with eight Games listed from 1964 to 1992 because of apartheid.
North Korea (1968, 2022) and Kuwait (2016) are listed for violating IOC rules.

All points are from the map by Al Jazeera’s AJLabs, published on 26 July 2024, the day the Paris Games opened [1].

Countries banned from the Olympics, the map in text

Title: Countries banned from the Olympics, 1920-2024. Subtitle: Since 1920, the Olympic Games have seen 13 countries banned from participation for reasons such as war aggression, doping, political stances or violations of International Olympic Committee (IOC) rules. A world map shades the 13 countries orange, each with a label. A Paris 2024 banner runs across the top.

Country	Years listed	Reason given
Hungary	1920	War aggression
Austria	1920	War aggression
Bulgaria	1920	War aggression
Turkey	1920	War aggression
Germany	1948, 1924, 1920	War aggression
Japan	1948	War aggression
Russian Federation	2024, 2020, 2018, 2016	War aggression, doping
Belarus	2024	War aggression
Democratic People’s Republic of Korea	2022, 1968	Violating IOC rules
Kuwait	2016	Violating IOC rules
Afghanistan	2000	Political stance (Taliban’s position on women)
Zimbabwe	1972	Political stance (racial segregation policies)
South Africa	1992, 1988, 1984, 1980, 1976, 1972, 1968, 1964	Political stance (apartheid regime)

Footer: Creative Commons BY NC SA licence. Source: Al Jazeera, July 26, 2024. @AJLabs, with the Al Jazeera logo. Our copy also carries a bar reading “Posted in r/MapPorn by u/PSIDAC”, from where the map was shared on Reddit.

Why each country was banned

Al Jazeera’s article that accompanies the map gives the background for each case [1]:

After the World Wars. Germany, Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria and Turkey were banned from the 1920 Antwerp Games over their role in World War One, and Germany’s ban continued for Paris 1924. Germany and Japan were banned from London 1948 after World War Two [1].
Apartheid. South Africa was banned over racial segregation under apartheid [1]. It took part in every Summer Games from 1904 to 1960, and was barred after the UN’s 1962 resolution against apartheid [2].
Rhodesia. Zimbabwe, then known as Rhodesia, was banned from Munich 1972 after international protests at its racial segregation policies [1].
Afghanistan. It was banned from the 2000 Games because of the ruling Taliban’s stance on women [1].
Kuwait. The IOC suspended Kuwait in October 2015 over government interference in its Olympic committee, so its athletes competed at Rio 2016 as independent athletes under the Olympic flag [1].
North Korea. It was banned from the 2022 Beijing Winter Games after withdrawing from Tokyo 2020 over COVID-19 concerns, which the IOC treated as a breach of the Olympic Charter [1].
Russia and Belarus. Many Russian athletes were barred from Rio 2016 over state-sponsored doping, and this continued into the 2018 Winter Games and Tokyo 2020. Both countries were banned from Paris 2024 because of the war in Ukraine [1].

Who competed as neutral athletes at Paris 2024

A ban on a country is not always a ban on its athletes. At Paris 2024, 15 athletes from Russia and 18 from Belarus were set to compete as Individual Neutral Athletes, known as AINs, without their national flags, anthems or uniforms [1]. Russian athletes at Rio 2016 and later Games competed under similar restrictions rather than a full ban [1].

Notes on this infographic

South Africa in 1992. The map lists 1992 as a ban year, but South Africa returned at the Barcelona Games in 1992, its first Olympics since 1960 [1][2]. Its ban covered 1964 to 1988.
Russia before 2024. Al Jazeera’s own article says Russia was not banned completely in 2016; many of its athletes were barred over doping [1]. The map’s combined reason, “war aggression, doping”, applies the war reason to 2024 and the doping reason to the earlier Games.
Zimbabwe. The 1972 entry refers to Rhodesia, as Al Jazeera notes [1].
North Korea in 1968. The accompanying article explains the 2022 ban but not the 1968 entry, so we have not verified it.
Winter Games. The map mixes Summer and Winter Games (2018 and 2022 were Winter Games) without marking which is which.
Japan’s label is partly cut off at the right edge in our copy.

Questions about countries banned from the Olympics

What countries are banned from the Olympics?

For Paris 2024, Russia and Belarus were banned as countries because of the war in Ukraine, although some of their athletes competed as neutrals [1]. Across 1920 to 2024 the map lists 13 countries that have been banned at least once.

How many countries have been banned from the Olympics?

The map counts 13 countries between 1920 and 2024: Hungary, Austria, Bulgaria, Turkey, Germany, Japan, Russia, Belarus, North Korea, Kuwait, Afghanistan, Zimbabwe (as Rhodesia) and South Africa.