With pressure intensifying for sports organizations to sanction Russia because of the invasion of Ukraine, the International Olympic Committee’s executive board recommended Monday that international federations and organizations “not invite or allow the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials” in competition and to move events from those countries.

The IOC’s executive board said in a statement that it was moving “to protect the integrity of global sports competitions and for the safety of all the participants.”

If that is not possible because of short notice, the IOC urged organizations to “do everything in their power to ensure that no athlete or sports official from Russia or Belarus be allowed to take part under the name of Russia or Belarus. Russian or Belarusian nationals, be it as individuals or teams, should be accepted only as neutral athletes or neutral teams. No national symbols, colors, flags or anthems should be displayed.”

The IOC stopped short of an outright ban, however, and has not suspended either country. That aligns with action taken by FIFA, soccer’s international governing body. It has not banned Russia from World Cup competition, but its team will be required to compete as Football Union of Russia. It had been scheduled to host Poland on March 24 in a World Cup qualifying playoff, but Poland and Russia’s next possible opponents, Sweden and the Czech Republic, have said they would refuse to take the field.

The International Ice Hockey Federation has also been the target of calls to move events from Russia and bar its athletes from competition. Federations in Switzerland, Latvia and Finland urged the IIHF to take those measures concerning and Belarus, with Wayne Gretzky lending his voice to the growing din.

Calling the invasion “a senseless war,” Gretzky went on to say on the “NHL on TNT,” “I was so glad to see the Polish soccer team step up and say we’re not going to play against them [in World Cup qualifying next month]. And I think international hockey should say, ‘We’re not going to let them play in the world junior hockey championship.’ I think we’ve got to, as Canadians, take that stance since the games are going to be played in Edmonton.”

Besides the World Junior Championships, upcoming IIHF tournaments include the men’s and women’s World Championships and the men’s and women’s U18′s. The 2023 world juniors, set for Novosibirsk and Omsk in Russia, and the 2023 Men’s World Championship in St. Petersburg would also be under consideration.

Calls for punishment and protests have spread across sports. The Swiss soccer federation said its women’s team would not play Russia in the European Championship and Schalke, a German soccer club, ended its long-standing partnership with Gazprom, Russia’s state-owned energy giant. On Monday, Schalke saw sales of its new Gazprom-free jersey rise.

On Sunday, Dinamo Riga, a hockey team based in Latvia, withdrew from Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League because of the invasion. A part of the KHL since the league’s inaugural 2008-09 season, it was one of five teams in the 24-team league based outside Russia entering the season.

Dinamo Riga’s withdrawal leaves three teams based outside of Russia that were still participating in the league as of Sunday – Barys Nur-Sultan of Kazakhstan, Dinamo Minsk of Belarus and Kunlun Red Star of China. Barys Nur-Sultan and Dinamo Minsk are scheduled to take part in the playoffs; Kunlun Red Star did not qualify.

Last week, Finland’s Jokerit announced it would not be take part in the KHL playoffs and its future in the KHL beyond the postseason is uncertain.

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