The All-Russian Swimming Federation has responded to the recent development regarding the status of its athletes and their ability to compete in international competition, with World Aquatics having announced a new set of criteria on Monday that opens the door for Russian participation on the global stage.
Russian and Belarusian athletes have been banned from World Aquatics competitions dating back to March 2022 following the onset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and that restriction has remained in place over the last 18 months.
However, World Aquatics announced earlier this week that Russian and Belarusian athletes will be eligible to compete in World Aquatics events as neutral, individual athletes, provided they meet a strict set of criteria.
The criteria include having shown no support for the war in Ukraine since it began, having no contract with the Russian or Belarusian military, and abiding by a focused anti-doping program that includes targeted testing.
In response, the Russian Federation has said it is currently in the process of studying the new restrictions, though, via translation, it has said there “has been no improvement” on the situation.
However, President Vladimir Salnikov will provide another statement once the federation is done analyzing the criteria and have decided on a path forward.
Full Statement From All-Russian Swimming Federation (Translated from Russian)
Yesterday, September 4, 2023, the International Aquatics Federation World Aquatics approved the criteria allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in international competitions under the auspices of World Aquatics in a neutral status.
The All-Russian Swimming Federation has begun to study the published criteria, many of which require further clarification. However, now we can say that there is no improvement in this situation.
The information received from World Aquatics will be discussed at the next meeting of the Presidium of the All-Russian Swimming Federation. Upon completion of the study of this issue, the President of the All-Russian Swimming Federation, Vladimir Valeryevich Salnikov, will make an official statement.
The Belarusian Swimming Federation has not issued a statement publically.
World Aquatics Criteria For Russian & Belarusian Athletes
- Compliance with all World Aquatics Regulations
- No contract with the Russian or Belarusian military or with any other national security agency
- No support for the war in Ukraine Any form of verbal, non-verbal or written expression, explicit or implicit, at any time since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, in particular public statements, including those made in social media, participation in pro-war demonstrations or events, and the wearing of any symbol in support of the war in Ukraine, for example the “Z” symbol, are considered to be acts of support for the war in Ukraine.
- Compliance with the Anti-Doping requirements.
Provided athletes pass the above criteria, they will face the following restrictions at World Aquatics events:
Other Restrictions
- One Russian and one Belarusian athlete per event in compeititon.
- Only individuals competing and no “team events”, meaning no relays, synchronized diving, only solo synchronized swimming, and no water polo.
- Qualifying times for World Aquatics events must be achieved outside of Russia and Belarus
- No Russian or Belarusian flags displayed at events (World Aquatics flag if necessary)
- No Russian or Belarusian anthems played at events (World Aquatics anthem if necessary)
- Uniforms must be plain white and approved by World Aquatics
- The appearance of any emblems, names, acronyms, or colors linked to Russia or Belarus are prohibited
- Russian and Belarusian athletes will be prohibited from going through the mixed zone and doing any interviews with the media
Read more on the new set of criteria released by World Aquatics here.
Was the right call by World Aquatics. Sanctions don’t work.
Has Morozov retired yet? This is probably only feasible for swimmers who don’t live in Russia.
Efimova.
Minakov.
There’s no rule that they can’t live in Russia. We’ve all made grand assumptions that it would be unsafe for Russian athletes living in Russia to stay neutral about the war or compete under a neutral flag, but so far there’s not evidence of that. The rules aren’t requiring them to speak out against the war, just requiring them to stay mum about the war.
“ good” Russian should leave their bloody land and compete for someone else. Nation of murderers
Lol
And America isn’t!
We are guilty of plenty of things, but we dont invade countries and target civilians. At least not in any recent times. If you are talking gun violence stats, then you have a debate.
There are a lot more mass shootings in the US than in Russia, so which nation is a Nation of murderers is debatable.
Their leadership are murderers. I wouldnt say the whole nation supports the war, and if they dont, you wont hear them speak out (some exceptions of course).
Their flag should never be displayed at another international meet and their country not even mentioned in media, and that includes the US. So, if Minakov gets a medal, he would be “the unattached swimmer from Asia/Europe (depending on where in Russia he trains).”
Ukraine used to be a part of russia? are you sure you even have a high school diploma because oh man… youre misinformed on what seems to be the very basics of the topic youre writing paragraphs about
Okay. Please explain to me how the Russian Empire holding what is modern Ukraine for over a century and Ukraine being a founding member of the USSR makes Ukraine not part of Russia. To me it seems obvious that they’re formerly Russia.
Is the Northeast US not formerly a British colony now too?
I actually like this. I don’t however, think that the athletes will be able to compete by dismissing their support for Putin’s war. If they do this, there could be dire consequences for them/their family.
I do feel for the people that have nothing to do with that nut bar’s war and just want to compete. Best bet, if you dont have extended family in Russia, get out and become a citizen elsewhere.
They will be there. Putin will understand and excuse. It’s all a necessary act. He’s got Thomas Bach making all the necessary maneuvers. Bach won’t risk Russians in the Asian Games or anywhere else. There’s too much chance of an incident or awkward situation that would project to Paris. Instead Bach will make sure Russians are eligible for Paris on first call after 29 months exile since the Beijing Winter Olympics. Putin doesn’t care about prelims. He’ll get what he wants with global Olympic spotlight and full force propaganda per norm.
I have to imagine no Russian will compete considering the restriction on war support. If I am a Russian athlete I would fear that my participation says I am anti-war and then I would need to be fearful of my own government at that point.
thats a good and important point.
Go compete, claim political asylum (I am rejecting the war, and will be subject to incarceration back in Russia) and start a new life free of an autocratic country that will most likely be in a terrible spot economically going forward.
Sounds like a winning play to me. Only downside is figuring out how to get your family out before this.
Getting your family out is a pretty big downside – for many, I would think insurmountable
Dissenters of Russia have notoriously been found at the bottoms of windows and staircases. No one will risk their families lives much less their own
World Aquatics haven’t asked them to dissent. They’ve just asked them to stay neutral – which many of them are doing anyway. They’re also giving them the easy out to stay neutral via no media.
Cheap package holiday to Turkey, just happen to miss the return flight…
Good luck with that
Stop acting like it’s still the cold war. It’s not. Russia is likely gonna be better economically than 80% of Europe in 10 years time.
I would be surprised if it accelerates to that level, but the framework of the growing BRICS synergies could lead to something quite formidable nonetheless, if those countries can iron out some differences and grow together effectively. The collective West is riddled with debt (Putin’s 2013 speech hit on that heavily), and relies far too much on fiat currency. Much of the world doesn’t understand that Russia’s debt runs at 15%-20% of GDP, compared to the U.S. at around $130% of GDP. Russia’s economy has proven to be remarkably resilient, even though it is relatively small, and much of that is due to disciplined financial management. The BRICS alliances only catapult Russia further up the ladder, as opposed to what… Read more »
Totally agree, not promoting the war at all (and our US influence on extending it).
The managerialism that killed the USSR is killing the west. Economically we’re not in a great spot and the future isn’t bright in that regard.
The BRICS are often their own worst enemies in terms of getting ahead in the world- all kinds of resources, all kinds of talented citizens, but they can’t create a structure for businesses to thrive, whether it’s the obstructionist trade policies of Brazil, Argentina’s monetary policy that leads to hyperinflation, the Byzantine Indian bureaucracy that stifles the ability of so many businesses to even get off the ground, Egypt’s economy will never thrive as long as military-run businesses run so much of the show there with mediocre results, Ethiopia’s too busy committing genocide on their own citizens to really bust out economically …. Oil is becoming a less relevant commodity- the UAE figured that 40 years ago and has been… Read more »
I like some of your points (especially with Ethiopia…Nigeria was a better BRICS choice in Africa), but the bottom line is that it is a very significant mistake to look at the past of the BRICS instead of the future. For many of the BRICS countries (not all), the future focus of BRICS is a gradual, incremental, but eventual massive overhaul of the current world order, and a rejection of the dollar as the reserve currency. The old necon thinking will only lead to a deeper rejection of the West. This needs to be taken extremely seriously, as much of the world views the United States as arrogant and corrupt, especially in the Global South, where a lot of economic,… Read more »
LOL, Argentina and Ethiopia are great examples of countries with financial stability. Come up with better examples. And going to a gold standard, that’s really going to fix things and will be the downfall of the West!