Russia’s FIS chief says work underway to clear Russians for int’l competitions

MOSCOW, July 9. /TASS/. Russia is set to continue working with the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) regarding the admission of national athletes to FIS-sponsored international events, Russian Ski and Snowboard Federation Dmitry Svishchev told TASS on Thursday.

Svishchev reported to TASS earlier that the Council of FIS didn’t discuss the issue of the return of Russian athletes at its July 7 meeting.

"We’ll continue to work towards this," Svishchev, who also serves as deputy chair of the State Duma Committee on Physical Culture and Sports, said.

"We are in dialogue with our colleagues from the FIS. With regard to the IOC’s latest recommendations, we hope that it will yield a result."

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced a decision on July 7 to provisionally lift an earlier-imposed suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) and also recommended lifting restrictions on the participation of Russian athletes in all international tournaments.

IOC previously-imposed sanctions against Russia, Belarus

On February 28, 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued recommendations to international sports federations to prohibit athletes from Russia and Belarus from participating in international tournaments, citing Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine as the reason.

Following the IOC’s recommendations in late February 2022, the majority of global sports federations decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from all international sports tournaments.

In late March, 2023, the IOC recommended allowing individual athletes from Russia and Belarus to participate in international sports tournaments, but only under specific conditions. Specifically, athletes from the two countries should not be "actively supporting" Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine and must compete under a neutral status. Russia and Belarus were also banned from participating in international team events.

On October 12, 2023, the IOC suspended the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) until further notice after the Russian organization included the Olympic councils of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), the Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions as its members.