The TAS (Court of Arbitration for Sport) annulled this Tuesday (2) the total exclusion of Russian and Belarusian skiers from international competitions, opening the door for their participation under a neutral flag in the 2026 Winter Games in Italy. The competition takes place from February 6th to 22nd.
Russia and Belarus are involved in the Ukrainian War, which began in February 2022, which has led to a wave of athletes from both countries withdrawing from international competitions.
If they “meet the criteria” established by the International Olympic Committee to obtain neutral status, athletes from both countries “should be allowed to participate in the classification events” of the International Ski Federation (FIS, in its French acronym), explains the jurisdiction in a statement.
With the decision, the supreme sports court disallowed the FIS, which, on October 21, had maintained the total exclusion of Russian and Belarusian skiers, aligning itself with the intransigent position of other federations, such as biathlon and luge – a sport in which athletes lie on their backs on a small sled.
When it seemed that the Russian and Belarusian presence at the Milan-Cortina Games would be limited to skaters, the TAS opened a first loophole at the end of October by annulling the total exclusion of bobsled riders.
However, this Tuesday’s decision is of greater importance, as the FIS organizes a set of disciplines (snowboarding and alpine, cross-country and acrobatic skiing) that represent more than half of the podiums at the Winter Olympic Games.
Where there is the most impact is in biathlon, as Russia has traditionally been a dominant power in this discipline, in which it won almost a third of the medals at the 2022 Beijing Games.
Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev reacted by highlighting that “it is the third judicial resolution in favor of Russia in Winter Olympic sports”, referring to a first, in June 2022, from the Court of Appeal of the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation, before the two from TAS.
Anthem and flag at the Paralympics
The TAS recalled “that the FIS statutes protect individuals against discrimination and require the FIS to be politically neutral” and assessed that the exclusion of skiers from both countries was “due to their nationality, regardless of the fact” whether or not they met “the eligibility criteria for neutral individual athletes”.
As it already did at the Paris 2024 Games, the IOC (International Olympic Committee) had opened the possibility of Russian and Belarusian participation under a neutral flag, as long as the athletes involved were not under contract with the army and had not actively supported the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The TAS also decided that Russian athletes will be able to participate in the Paralympic Games “under the same conditions as other para-athletes”, that is, with an anthem and flag, as the International Paralympic Committee (CPI) voted at the end of September for their full reinstatement.
