Lawsuit before Cas successful
Russia’s athletes are allowed to take part in Olympic qualifying
12/02/2025 – 4:26 p.mReading time: 2 minutes
In a dispute with the world association Fis before the International Court of Arbitration for Sport, the Russian Ski Association is defending itself against exclusion from Olympic qualifications – with success. What that means.
Russian and Belarusian athletes are allowed to take part in the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) qualifying competitions for the 2026 Winter Olympics under neutral status. The International Court of Arbitration for Sports (Cas) decided this in an arbitration case against the Fis.
The Cas thus overturned a decision by the World Ski Federation, which had decided in October 2025 not to admit any Russian or Belarusian athletes to FIS qualification competitions – even under neutral status as so-called “Individual Neutral Athletes” (AIN).
The ski associations of both countries as well as a total of 17 athletes and para-athletes, including the Belarusian Olympic champion Hanna Huskowa, had sued. The freestyle skier won gold in Pyeongchang in 2018 and silver in the aerials discipline in Beijing in 2022.
The sports court based its decision on the statutes of the Fis, which is obliged to be politically neutral and to protect against discrimination. A general exclusion based on nationality is not permitted – regardless of whether the athletes meet the IOC’s participation requirements for neutral athletes.
Athletes from Russia and Belarus are allowed to take part if they meet the AIN criteria defined by the IOC. This includes, among other things, proof of not publicly supporting the war against Ukraine and no connections to the military or state security authorities.
While the athletes were successful with their complaint, the CAS rejected further applications – for example the participation of coaches and officials.
Russia’s Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyaryov, also President of the National Olympic Committee, described the verdict as a success. There was initially no official reaction from the FIs. The association is now under time pressure to examine the applications for neutral status in a timely manner.
The International Olympic Committee had already allowed Russian and Belarusian athletes to take part under a neutral flag at the 2024 Summer Games in Paris. The decision as to whether this rule is also applied in the respective qualifying competitions lies with the professional associations. The Fis initially decided against it.
The background to the sanctions against Russia and Belarus is the war of aggression against Ukraine that has been ongoing for over three years. The IOC suspended the Russian Olympic Committee in October after it recognized the annexation of the Ukrainian regions of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhia. The IOC considered this a violation of the Olympic Charter.