LAUSANNE, Switzerland – Russian athletes have been excluded from another sport, which has become extremely popular at home since the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russia was banned from participating in international ice skating competitions on Tuesday, a day after it was expelled from football and hockey, President Vladimir Putin’s favorite sport. The decisions follow a request from the International Olympic Committee not to allow Russian athletes to participate in sporting events around the world.
The International Skating Union, the body that manages the sport around the world, said athletes from Russia or Belarus “will not be invited or allowed to participate” in events of another order.
“The ISU Council reaffirms its solidarity with all those affected by the conflict in Ukraine and our thoughts are with the entire Ukrainian people and state,” the ISU said in a statement.
Belarus was a key ally of Russia in its attack on Ukraine.
The World Figure Skating Championships are scheduled for later this month in Montpellier, France. ISU’s decision means that Olympic champion Anna Shterbakova and 15-year-old teammate Kamila Valieva, who was at the center of a still unresolved doping dispute at last month’s Winter Olympics, will be excluded from the competition.
Also Tuesday, the International Volleyball Federation said it had deprived Russia of hosting the Men’s World Cup in August and September and would look for another country or host countries.
“It would be impossible to prepare and organize the World Cup in Russia due to the war in Ukraine,” said the FIVB board.
However, the sport of swimming has so far chosen to ignore the IOC’s recommendation to ban Russians. The governing body of the sport, known as FINA, said on Tuesday that it would allow Russian and Belarusian swimmers to participate “as neutrals, competing under the FINA flag and with the FINA anthem”.
The FINA website still lists Russia as the host of the World Short Course Championships in December.
However, the swimming authority said it had withdrawn the federation’s award to Putin in 2014.
The International Ski Federation has also decided to allow the Russians to continue competing, but the Norwegian Ski Federation said on Tuesday it would block Russians from competing in upcoming World Cup events in their country.
“We hoped that the FIS would reach the same conclusion on behalf of all ski nations, but now the Norwegian Ski Federation can no longer wait. That is why today the executive board decided to inform the FIS that Russian and Belarusian athletes will not have the right to participate in upcoming events in Norway, “said the President of the Norwegian Ski Federation Eric Roste.
It is unclear whether Russian athletes will be eligible to compete in this month’s indoor world championships in Serbia. The country remains excluded from the sport for doping, but many Russians compete as “neutral athletes” without flags or national emblems.