Aquatics: Russia returns to team sports

Russian water polo players will return to international tournaments in 2026. The relevant document appeared on the website of the Federation of Water Sports (World Aquatics). For now, our athletes will be able to compete in a neutral status, but in any case, this is a huge breakthrough and an example for those team sports in which federations are afraid to ease sanctions, allegedly due to opposition from the IOC, concerns about the safety of matches and the integrity of tournaments.

Great success

The World Aquatics decision is truly a breakthrough for Russian athletes, as Russians have not been allowed to compete in team sports since 2022. In March 2023, the International Olympic Committee, in its recommendations, relaxed its personal disciplines, but retained a total ban for team athletes. This measure was in effect at the Olympics in Paris. It has also been saved for the upcoming Winter Games. The IOC has not officially changed its position yet.

Despite this, World Aquatics still gave the green light to Russian water polo. Of course, with all the standard set of restrictions, including a neutral status. But starting from January 1, 2026, our national teams, as well as the Belarusian national teams, will be able to return to the big water in official competitions. For the last almost four years, they have had the opportunity to play only friendly matches.

World Aquatics admitted Russian swimmers, divers, and synchronized swimmers back in late 2023, but due to strict restrictions, only a few of our compatriots took advantage of the opportunity to obtain neutral status before the fall of 2024. Swimmers only took part in the World Short Course Swimming Championships in Budapest (Hungary) at the end of last year. This year, all our neutral "aquatics", except for water polo players, started at the World Championships in Singapore. Both tournaments turned out to be successful for the Russians: They won 6 gold and 4 silver medals at the first, 6 gold, 8 silver and 4 bronze medals at the second.

A trick question

Officially, World Aquatics cited concerns about safety in contact sports as the reason for the non-admission of water polo players. However, now the problem has apparently disappeared. However, the rapid return of Russian water polo to the world stage, alas, should not be expected. Although our women's and men's teams can formally start competing as early as January 1, 2026, our teams will not be able to get to the next major competitions, even theoretically.

The men's European Championship starts on January 10, and the selection for it has long been completed. At the same time, the upcoming European Championship is also a qualification for the 2027 World Aquatics Championships, which will be held in Budapest. Accordingly, the men are missing the next two major tournaments, and the only available goal is the 2028 European Championship. The situation is the same for women — their Euro starts on January 26 in Funchal (Portugal), and the selection process has long been completed.

In theory, both national teams can try to qualify for the World Cup. This tournament will be held from April 7 to April 12 for men and from April 21 to May 6 for women. However, most likely only Division 2 is available for us there. And for men, for example, Ukrainians perform in it, which may become an additional political obstacle. For women, everything is simpler — in the past, our girls regularly got into the world's top 6 and are unlikely to have lost their status over the past four years. All that remains is for the organizers of the World Cup to recognize this.

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The position of the international federations did not allow our athletes to participate in the selection

And even though full—fledged competitions are still far away, admitting entire teams is great news in itself.

"This is the only team sport in which we will be allowed to compete," Dmitry Svishchev, a State Duma deputy and head of the Russian Curling Federation, told Izvestia. Many federations are sitting and watching who will be the first to bring us back. Now there will be, if not a wave of Russian athletes returning to the international arena in team sports, but some federations will be more accommodating. I hope that this event will radically change the admission situation for our athletes.

Dmitry Guberniev, a well-known commentator, holds a similar position.

"Excellent work by Dmitry Mazepin's team (President of the Federation of Water Sports),— Dmitry Guberniev told Izvestia. — Our water federation works wonders. And we will go to Europe, all the issues have already been resolved in Paris. And water polo players are the first decision for the teams, but it's still going to depend on which country wants to host us. You see, we're not going to Poland for a "short" Europe. Nevertheless, this decision will show that the train has started and that it's time to let us in everywhere.

Earlier, Mazepin said that the federation wants to make 2026 the year of water polo.

—We need to rebuild the system from scratch, we have created the Eurasian League with 14 men's clubs and 11 women's clubs," Dmitry Mazepin told Sport Express. — We are considering the possibility of inviting a foreign coach to assemble the backbone and prepare us for the Olympics — there are only three years left. Unfortunately, a lot of things were lost inside. The probability of our water polo returning to the international arena is more than 90 percent. This is a team look, which imposes nuances, there is contact between athletes. But in my opinion, our athletes have proven their professionalism and that all this is possible.

The last time our team participated in the Olympic Games was in Tokyo in 2021. The women's national team reached the semifinals, losing to the future champions from the USA (15:11). In the match for the third place, our girls lost to Hungary (11:9).