Dec 2 (Reuters) – Russian and Belarusian athletes should be allowed to participate in International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) qualification events if they meet the IOC’s criteria for individual neutral athletes (AIN), the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said on Tuesday.
The FIS council had voted not to allow athletes from Russia and Belarus to participate as neutral athletes in its qualification events for the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics and Paralympics.
The Russian Ski Association (RSF) and the Belarusian Ski Union (BSU) appealed against the decision to CAS, along with 17 athletes from both countries.
“Both CAS Panels ruled that Russian and Belarusian athletes who meet the International Olympic Committee AIN eligibility criteria should be allowed to participate in FIS qualification events,” CAS said in a statement.
CAS said it had partially upheld the appeals.
“Requests by the BSU on how to establish and apply AIN criteria were dismissed, as they remain under FIS remit,” it added.
The FIS said in a statement that it acknowledged the CAS ruling, and asked athletes who are eligible to request AIN status to do so by sending an email.
A CAS ruling in October had allowed Russian luge athletes to compete in qualifying events as neutrals after the International Luge Federation (FIL) had extended an existing exclusion on Russian athletes from its competitions.
The IOC ruled in September that Russians and Belarusians cleared to compete at the Games would compete as neutral independent athletes, without a national flag or anthem, maintaining their sanctions since Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Three figure skaters, two from Russia and one from Belarus, were cleared by the IOC last week to take part in the Milano Cortina Games, becoming the first athletes from their countries to be invited to participate.
(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)
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