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≡ RUSSIA STILL OUT ≡
The Russian news agency TASS reported that efforts by the All-Russian Athletics Federation to re-admit its athletes to international competitions have gotten nowhere.
ARAF Executive Director Boris Yaryshevsky told TASS:
“The All-Russian Athletics Federation is very actively working to build a dialogue. Clearly, this is our most important and key priority: the return of our athletes to the international arena. We’ve been building a dialogue and holding negotiations since 2025.
“Unfortunately, we were forced to acknowledge that our dialogue hasn’t been constructive. And the statements World Athletics is making about our athletes’ reinstatement being directly linked to a peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine, which would be acceptable to the entire international community, are, in our view, completely discriminatory and have nothing to do with sport. Naturally, they don’t comply with the Olympic Charter.
“Starting in December, when the International Olympic Committee first recommended our athletes’ participation, we intensified this dialogue. Unfortunately, given that the head of World Athletics tried to avoid a decision on this issue, it dragged on.
“We repeatedly tried to bring this dialogue onto the international agenda. Ultimately, the World Athletics Council reviewed the matter and made a negative decision regarding the eligibility of Russian athletes.”
The ARAF has filed a complaint with the Court of Arbitration for Sport, challenging the World Athletics position.
Russian Olympic Committee chief Mikhail Degtyarev said in a 22 July radio interview, “The most unhinged federations are biathlon and track and field,” both of which continue to refuse Russian participation.
The World Athletics Council considered the Russia question in detail at its 1-2 July meeting, but:
“The Council reaffirmed the decision it made in March 2022, revisited in 2023 and 2025 and discussed again in March 2026 to exclude Russian and Belarusian athletes, officials and supporting personnel from international competition. …
“In its deliberations, the Council was cognisant of the wider impact of the conflict on Ukraine athletics, for example, the ability to hold domestic competitions regularly, impacting on their ability to achieve qualification standards and/or earn ranking points, the numbers of Ukrainian athletes who are able to compete, and the severely compromised athletics infrastructure within Ukraine, coaches and support personnel. The dedicated fund that World Athletics established in 2022 to support Ukraine is helping ameliorate some of that impact, but there is no doubt the ability of Ukraine and its athletes to train and compete remains severely compromised.”
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe (GBR) added:
“The Council and the Working Group on the status of Russians/Belarusians in International Competitions & Events have been consequential and methodical in reviewing the sanctions imposed on Russia and Belarus and in identifying a conditional pathway back into international competition.
“We presented options for the Council to consider on this matter, however, the original decision remains on the sanctions that protect the integrity and fairness of our competitions, with no tangible movement towards peace negotiations having materialised.”
World Athletics has been concerned with Russian participation since the 2011-15 state-sponsored doping scandal broke, allowing only one Russian – who trained in the U.S. – to compete at Rio 2016. The federation ended its Russian doping review in March 2023, but has maintained the Russian ban imposed since its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
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