Off the flag: who is blocking Russia's return to world sport

The Executive Committee of the International Fencing Federation (FIE) has returned the national symbols to the national teams of Russia and Belarus. The decision will take effect at the World Championships, which will be held in Hong Kong from July 22 to July 30. However, the next major tournament, the European Championships in Anthony, France, from June 16 to 21, will most likely be held by our athletes in a neutral status. The reason is the position of the head of the European Confederation (EFC), Pascal Tesch. An official from Luxembourg regularly broadcasts pro-Ukrainian narratives and initiates collective letters criticizing the strategy of lifting political sanctions. As a result, a paradoxical situation has developed: at the global level, almost all restrictions have been lifted, and the decision of the European Federation of 2023 to suspend Russia's membership is still in force.

FIE returns flag and anthem to Russian fencers

The Executive Committee of the International Fencing Federation has allowed Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under national symbols starting from the 2026 World Championships in Hong Kong.

The organization explained the decision by following the principles of the Olympic Charter.

"This decision reflects the FIE's commitment to the fundamental principles of the Olympic Charter, including non—discrimination, equal treatment and the universality of sport," the federation said in a statement.

Mikhail Degtyarev, head of the Russian Ministry of Sports and President of the Russian Olympic Committee, called the decision a logical outcome of the process of returning Russian athletes to the international arena.

—In December 2025, the FIE was one of the first international Olympic sports federations to allow Russian juniors and cadets to compete without restrictions," Degtyarev recalled on his Maks channel.

After that, Russian fencers began to regularly take prizes at major international tournaments. The Russian women's junior sabre team won the team gold at the World Championships in Brazil, and at the European Championships in Tbilisi, the Russian team took first place in the team competition.

The FIE's decision was also welcomed by the Russian Fencing Federation (FFR).

— This is a great joy for all Russian fencing. We have been waiting for this decision for a long time," Ilgar Mammadov, President of the FFR, told Izvestia.

At the same time, the issue of the return of Russian symbols to international fencing has not yet been fully resolved.

According to Mammadov, Russians are likely to maintain a neutral status at the upcoming European Championships, as the Russian Fencing Federation's membership in the European Confederation has not yet been restored. This issue is planned to be considered at the EFC congress before the start of the tournament, however, even in the case of a positive decision, the process may take time.

Why is Europe in no hurry to bring Russia back to its tournaments

The June European Championship is a tournament of difficult fate. It was originally planned to be held in Tallinn, but the Estonian government could not guarantee the issuance of visas to participants from Russia and Belarus. After that, by the decision of the FIE and EFC, the competitions were moved to French Anthony. This is a perfect example of how international sports organizations should react to the politicization of the organizers of major competitions. However, there is a nuance here — FIE became the initiator of a tough decision towards Estonians, and at first the head of the European Confederation did not see any particular problem in visa barriers.

Pascal Tesch replaced Italian Giorgio Scarso at the helm of EFC in September 2024. In June 2025, a Luxembourg official signed a memorandum criticizing the process of lifting anti-Russian sanctions, which began at the FIE level. However, the European Championship is held under the auspices and under the license of the international federation. Therefore, last summer at the continental tournament in Tbilisi (Georgia), representatives of Russia performed in a neutral status, including in the team category (which Tesh strongly objected to). And this is despite the fact that the decision of the EFC Congress to suspend the membership of the national federations of Russia and Belarus has not yet been officially canceled.

Formally, the head of the International Fencing Federation is Russian businessman Alisher Usmanov. But after winning the elections in December 2024, he voluntarily suspended his duties in order to protect the federation from personal sanctions imposed on him by the EU and the United States. Therefore, the FIE is currently governed by Interim President Abdelmoneimh El-Husseini, representing Egypt. In general, he pursues a policy friendly to Russia, but acts very carefully to avoid accusations of "pro-Russian lobbying", which are constantly heard from fencers from Ukraine, the Baltic States, Scandinavia, as well as from the Poles.

Ukrainians regularly initiate open letters criticizing the process of returning Russians, as well as accusing the FIE of corruption and other bad things. Dozens of signatures appear under these statements, most of which belong to completely unknown athletes or those who have long since retired. Last fall, the Hamburg Regional Court imposed an injunction against allegations about Alisher Usmanov, spread by journalist Hayo Seppelt on the German ARD TV channel on the eve of the 2024 Olympics, about an alleged "judicial bribery system." Many in the fencing world suspect that pro-Ukrainian officials of the European Confederation were behind these "plums".

Can Russian sports move to Asia

It is not yet known whether Ukraine and its allies will boycott the World Fencing Championships in Hong Kong because of Russian symbols. Officially, representatives of this country are prohibited from participating in tournaments where the Russian flag is present. Because of this, for example, Ukrainian judoka boycotted several major competitions, and World Championship medalist Elizaveta Litvinenko decided to compete for the UAE national team. However, due to the fact that now the process of lifting sanctions has covered many sports, especially in the junior category, representatives of Ukraine limit themselves to refusing to shake hands and take photos together, and also sometimes arrange demarches on the podium during the playing of the Russian national anthem.

According to Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev, the FIE has become the 10th international federation to lift all restrictions on Russian athletes. Earlier, our athletes were allowed to compete under national symbols by the International Gymnastics Federation (World Gymnastics), the International Aquatics Federation (World Aquatics), the United World of Wrestling (UWW), the International Federations of Judo (IJF), Taekwondo (World Taekwondo), Sambo (FIAS), Kickboxing (WKF), Muay Thai (IFMA), Boxing (IBA). We can add chess (FIDE) to this, where the issue of symbols is still pending approval from the IOC. However, of the listed federations, only six are represented at the Summer Olympic Games.

In addition, the European Aquatics Federation does not want to sanction Russian symbols at the European Championships in Paris, which will be held from July 31 to August 16, 2026. The situation there is similar to that in fencing. There is a direct European opposition to the process of lifting political sanctions. In chess and the non-Olympic version of taekwondo (ITF), this led to the transfer of our national federations under the jurisdiction of Asia. This idea is currently being discussed in the Russian Paralympic Committee, which is also tired of endless visa problems and political demarches. Perhaps this issue will have to be raised in other sports over time, although some of our sports officials are categorically opposed to changing their residence permit, despite all the difficulties.