The ski track was not given: the international federation refused to lift sanctions from Russians

For the second time, the International Ski Federation (FIS) has decided on a neutral status for Russian athletes for the Olympic season. Unfortunately, it turned out to be negative: our skiers will not have the opportunity to participate in the World Cup and earn a quota for the 2026 Games. The head of the organization, Johan Elias, failed to overcome the Scandinavian lobby, which strongly opposed the easing of sanctions and even threatened to boycott the competition otherwise. This approach contradicts the recommendations of the IOC, and the FIS tried to find a way out of the situation by interviewing national federations. Unfortunately, that didn't help either.

All available means

"The FIS Council has voted not to authorize the participation of athletes from Russia and Belarus as individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) in the qualification competitions for the 2026 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games," the organization said in a statement. "The International Olympic Committee's Neutral Athletes (AIN) regime has been identified as a possible way for Russians and Belarusians to participate in the Olympic Games, while each international federation remains responsible for deciding whether to allow these athletes to participate in the existing qualification system."

The Russian Ski Sports Association (ALVSR) expressed deep disappointment with the FIS decision to further deprive Russian athletes of the right to compete in international competitions, even as individual neutral athletes.

"This decision continues the discriminatory policy towards our athletes, contrary to the fundamental principle of political neutrality enshrined in the FIS Charter. The ALVSR continues to strongly advocate for equal and fair treatment of our athletes. We will continue to actively use all available means to ensure that athletes are not punished for political reasons beyond their control, including by going to court. The ALVSR remains committed to the principles of fairness, non—discrimination and equality in sports," the organization said in a statement.

"All available means" is, apparently, filing an appeal against the denial of neutral status. Bobsledders have now gone the same way, not without success, and our luge athletes are trying to reason with Russophobes in their international federation through the courts. Obviously, skiers will have to follow this path as well. They didn't have too many options to get to the Cortina d'Ampezzo Games anyway, given the only two remaining quotas and the need to score points at the World Cup stages in Finland and Norway, where Russian representatives were threatened not to be allowed due to visa barriers. However, according to the Scandinavians, there are probably a lot of even two neutral Russians at the Olympics.

We must not stop fighting

Before the start of the Olympic season, many athletes and officials, including those abroad, expressed the hope that international federations in winter sports would abandon their Russophobic approaches and listen to the recommendations of the IOC. Lausanne officially extended the neutral status regime in force in Paris 2024 for another two years and publicly spoke about progress in the International Ski Federation. Its head, Johan Elias, a Swede with a British passport, has repeatedly publicly advocated admission, but the opposition of Norwegians, Finns and Canadians in the FIS Council turned out to be too serious.

The first meeting of the Council in Zurich, held a month ago, did not lead to any result. And after the timeout, the positions of the parties did not change, despite a lot of behind-the-scenes work. Moreover, Elias and his associates were hit by a flurry of angry publications in the Scandinavian and Finnish media, which cited the opinions of politicized athletes who refused to compete with the Russians. And since there is nowhere to retreat — the first stage of the World Cup is scheduled for the end of November — the head of the FIS had to make a difficult choice: either to maintain discriminatory realities, or to go to a scandal with the most influential ski powers. And this is despite the fact that they have many complaints about Elias even without the "Russian case".

As a result, our hopes were dashed, although everything does not seem as hopeless as it was three and a half years ago, when Russian skiers were not even allowed to complete the World Cup. The admission situation is getting off the ground, and failures along the way should not be a reason to give up. The prospects in tribunals and arbitrations are also not the most obvious, but, as the experience of bobsledders shows, there are options. Of course, it's a shame that we have to fight for the natural right of every athlete to participate peacefully in international competitions. But such is the current life, in which nothing is given for nothing.