Russian and Belarusian athletes are not seen in the sports under FIS at the Milan-Cortina Olympics, even as neutral athletes.
Veronika Stepanova, known as a staunch supporter of Vladimir Putin, will not make it to the next winter’s Olympics. EPA / AOP
Snow sports athletes from Russia and Belarus will not be able to participate in international competitions as neutral athletes this winter.
The board of the International Skiing Federation FIS voted at its meeting on Tuesday that Russians and Belarusians will not be allowed to compete with neutral status in the qualifying events of the Winter Olympics or Winter Paralympics.
Therefore, they will not be seen in the snow sports world cups.
– The decision covers this starting season. The next time the topic will be considered by the International Ski Federation will probably be sometime next autumn, says the representative of Finland at the conference Martti Uusitalo For Iltalehti.
– It was a vote. No voting results were commented on. 22 members voted. There were representatives who were for it and there were representatives who were against it. The majority was now of the opinion that athletes from these two countries would not be included.
Out of the Olympics
Martti Uusitalo (left) took part in Tuesday’s Fis board meeting. The service lasted about six hours. PASI LEISMA
Sports covered by the International Ski Federation include cross-country skiing, ski jumping, combined, alpine skiing, freestyle and snowboarding.
Russian and Belarusian athletes are out of February’s Milan-Cortina Olympics.
– Athletes from these two countries will not be competing in the sports under FIS at the Olympics, Uusitalo confirms.
The International Ski Federation banned athletes from Russia and Belarus from activities under the federation in the spring of 2022, when Russia armedly attacked Ukraine.
The chairman was disappointed
Fis’ big boss Johan Eliasch would have liked the Russians and Belarusians to participate in the World Cup. EPA / AOP
The Swedish president of the International Ski Federation, Johan Eliasch, has flagged for the inclusion of Russians and Belarusians. Now the big boss got it.
– I don’t want to take a stand on this. He has expressed his own views on the subject, but this was the final result.