TASS. July 26. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has sent an official invitation to the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) to take part in the Olympic Games that will be held in Tokyo from July 24 to August 9, 2020, the ROC’s press office said in a statement on Friday.

"Therefore, as compared to the 2018 Games in South Korea’s PyeongChang, the ROC has got a possibility to form Russia’s full-fledged Olympic team, which will perform in the Japanese capital under its flag and without any restrictions or additional terms," the statement says.

"This also relates to track-and-field athletes who have official permission to participate in international competitions and can qualify for the Olympics," according to the statement.

Russia’s Olympic Committee President Stanislav Pozdnyakov said in an interview with the radio station Govorit Moskva (Moscow Speaking) that Russian athletes would perform at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics under the national flag and with the national anthem.

"Many of them [track and field athletes] have permission from the IAAF [the International Association of Athletics Federations]. There are already over 120 such persons. We are working on increasing their number. All the athletes who have passed the selection procedure will be included in Russia’s Olympic team, which will perform under Russia’s flag, anthem and other symbols," he said.

The ROC chief said the qualification standards were quite high this year and "a great lot of athletes will face difficulties in qualifying for the Olympic Games."

On December 5, 2017, the IOC suspended Russia’s membership over the violation of anti-doping rules by Russian athletes at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Russian athletes had to receive individual invitations to the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in South Korea’s PyeongChang. As a result, a diminished Russian team competed at the PyeongChang Olympics under the Olympic flag and in the status of Olympic athletes from Russia. The Russian athletes were also banned from singing their national anthem at Olympic facilities.

On February 28, 2018, the IOC fully reinstated Russia’s membership.