Europe has postponed the full lifting of sanctions against Russian and Belarusian athletes
Europe has decided to postpone the full lifting of sanctions against athletes from Russia and Belarus in water sports. Despite discussions about new rules, these athletes have not yet returned to full competition under their countries’ flags. For now, they continue to compete only as neutral athletes, without national symbols.
European sports organizations have not fully lifted restrictions on athletes from Russia and Belarus in water sports, postponing the adoption of relevant decisions.
The organization’s president, Antonio Silva, stated that the federation is not yet ready to fully transition to new eligibility rules that could allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to fully return to international competition. “World Aquatics has agreed to postpone the lifting of all sanctions due to the security situation in Europe,” Silva noted.
Despite this, the partial easing of restrictions adopted earlier remains in effect: athletes from Russia and Belarus may participate in competitions, but only in individual disciplines and without the use of national symbols.
Following the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the International Olympic Committee recommended barring athletes from these countries from international competitions. This decision served as the basis for widespread restrictions across various sports worldwide. In 2023, World Aquatics partially eased the rules, allowing individual athletes to return to competition, but without flags, national anthems, or team appearances.
Now, however, the issue of fully lifting the sanctions has been put on hold again, leaving the situation in sports without a final resolution and maintaining the current “neutral” format for the participation of athletes from Russia and Belarus.
United World Wrestling has decided to fully reinstate the participation of athletes from Russia and Belarus in international competitions. This involves allowing representatives from both countries to compete in tournaments without restrictions across all age categories.
