IOC Could Lift South Africa Ban Tuesday

South Africa seems set to return to the Olympic fold next week after an absence for two decades.

Expelled from the Olympic movement in 1970, the white minority-ruled country could be welcomed back at a historic meeting Tuesday at Lausanne, Switzerland.

Officials charged with bringing South African sports back after the of apartheid years are to report to the International Olympic Committee at IOC headquarters.

A return to the Olympic arena in Barcelona next July or possibly at the Albertville Winter Games in February would be South Africa’s first appearance since an all-white team took part in the 1960 Rome Olympics.

The nod of assent from the IOC would also send a signal to other international sports organizations that the time is right to end the sports isolation of South Africa.

The International Amateur Athletic Federation, the world governing body for track and field, cleared the way Friday for South Africa to be readmitted in time for next month’s World Track and Field Championships in Tokyo.

Primo Nebiolo, president of the IAAF, said in a statement from federation headquarters in London that South Africa met all the demands for its return.