Access lane: Russian skiers get a new chance to return to the KM

The International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) has announced new rules for the admission of neutral Russians and Belarusians to its competitions. The criteria that will be in effect in the upcoming season open up the possibility for athletes from CSKA and "Dynamo" to participate. But all previously rejected dossiers will have to be reviewed in a new round with the payment of a fee of 2 thousand Swiss francs for each questionnaire. In cross-country skiing, the revision will affect almost all of our leading athletes. In addition, the clause on being in the international anti—doping pool remains in force, which was the reason for the majority of refusals last season.

FIS has softened the "army" filter

A year ago, the FIS Council, under pressure from the Scandinavian lobby, denied representatives of Russia and Belarus the right to speak even under a neutral flag. Then there were arbitration hearings at the CAS and the recognition of the total ban as illegal. But after losing the trial, the bureaucrats from the international federation did everything to sabotage the decision on admission. Criteria of neutrality were devised, through which, against the background of visa barriers, a few of our skiers, freestyle skiers and snowboarders managed to infiltrate. In the summer, the FIS changed power, and the new leadership of the organization (also not at all pro-Russian), under pressure from the IOC recommendations to completely abandon sanctions, was forced to weaken discriminatory filters. The main change is that connections with law enforcement agencies are no longer an unambiguous reason for refusal.

"We have done a great job and we are grateful to our colleagues from FIS, ROC and the Ministry of Sports," Dmitry Svishchev, head of the Russian Ski and Snowboard Federation, told Sport24. — This document finally allows our athletes to participate in international competitions of any level. We are far from fully recovering, but an important step has been taken. Unfortunately, there are still team competitions in which we cannot compete yet. We are currently studying the final text of the declaration. It is strikingly different for the better from the original version that was offered to us. In my opinion, all Russian skiers meet the admission criteria outlined in it. Now it remains to wait for approval from the FIS on specific cases.

Indeed, the clause banning Russians from participating in relay races and team starts remained in force. But the reason for refusing personal access is now not just connections with law enforcement agencies, but "a voluntarily concluded contract with the Russian or Belarusian armed forces or with national security agencies." This may open the way to international competitions for athletes from CSKA and "Dynamo", although there are also many legal nuances.

According to official data from the FLGR, the top 30 of the national rating last season included six army men and two Russian Guards, as well as five representatives of CSKA and one from "Dynamo" for women. None of the candidates for the World Cup participated in the Russian Armed Forces Ski Racing Championship in Toksovo in February 2026, although about a hundred athletes started there.

In any case, the FIS's "army" requirements for Russians are of a discriminatory political nature and, if denied admission, can be challenged in court, since there is no such filter for representatives of other countries. For example, most of the German skiers are registered in the sports support groups of the Bundeswehr. Italian collections are mostly employed by the state police or the Financial Guard. Top winter athletes from France are part of the structure, which is subordinate to the National Defense Sports Center. The US Armed Forces are officially sponsors of the American national ski team. The Norwegian ski jumping team has long had sponsorship contracts with manufacturers of weapons and ammunition. In this regard, the FIS's statements about the "peaceful mission" are simply ridiculous.

Neutrality under the new rules

Another important adjustment to the rules for granting neutral status (AIN) is that all political prohibitions now relate only to "time spent participating in or attending any FIS event outside the Russian Federation or the Republic of Belarus." That is, now appearances at rallies, interviews, and social media posts "that may harm the interests of the competition, its integrity, or the required neutrality of the participant" affect only the period of the tournaments, and not the athlete's life outside of the sport.

This significantly reduces the opportunities for pro-Ukrainian activists to challenge admission, which these figures do regularly and very inventively in other sports. It is also important that the criteria retain the punishment for "any discriminatory or provocative behavior" against admitted Russians and Belarusians, which, in theory, should exclude political demarches by Russophobes during ceremonies and in mixed zones.

"I am glad that the FIS has finally brought some clarity to this situation,— Swedish journalist Ludwig Swann told RIA Novosti. — The previous communication of the federation was not clear enough and caused confusion in the world of ski racing. I've read the document and I think the terms look fair. Now we will see more Russian skiers, but athletes who are closely associated with the military conflict will still not be allowed. In my opinion, this is logical. It is difficult for me to comment on the situation with athletes' contracts with the armed forces, as I do not have enough information about this. From a purely sporting point of view, I hope that the leading Russian skiers will receive the green light from the FIS. This will make the competitions this season more interesting.

Actually, then the technical and legal issues begin. But an important caveat is that everyone who was previously denied neutral status (and these are dozens of athletes from Russia) will have to resubmit their dossier no later than December 15 and pay a fee of about 200 thousand rubles. Taking into account the banking problems, transferring money to the FIS account is a separate quest. The neutrality is initially confirmed by the self-assessment, but the previous rejected application of AIN and "intelligence data" are considered the basis for its recheck. Anonymous letters and pro-Ukrainian protests may fall into the latter category, so Swiss detectives hired by the federation will definitely have a job. Athletes who were previously allowed to compete (in cross-country skiing, these are Savely Korostelev, Nikita Denisov and Daria Nepryaeva) do not need to update their documents. And the rest will have to hurry up to make it to the end of November, when the World Cups in most ski disciplines start.

Ardashev and Stepanova were left out of the pool

The most unclear point so far is related to the anti-doping requirements, which formed the basis for most of the previous refusals. Since RUSADA has been under the sanctions of the World Agency for more than a decade, FIS requires all applicants to be present in the international testing pool. For the 2026/27 season, it includes 21 representatives of cross-country skiing, as well as five Paralympians, four skiers, four freestyle skiers, three snowboarders and a biathlon. Among the stars represented in the pool: Alexander Bolshunov, Savely Korostelev, Alexey Chervotkin, Denis Spitsov, Alexander Terentyev, Ivan Yakimushkin, Daria Nepryaeva, Elizaveta Pantrina, Lidia Gorbunova, Evgenia Krupitskaya, Ekaterina Smirnova, Alisa Zhambalova.

For some reason, the list does not include Sergey Ardashev, one of the leaders of recent seasons in the National Cup, the Olympic champions Natalia Terentyeva and Veronika Stepanova, who resumed their careers, as well as our young star Alina Pekletsova. How to get out of this impasse is unclear. Athletes cannot add themselves to the international pool. An international testing agency may test someone from the RUSADA pool during overseas training camps, commercial launches, or even vacations, but this will be a gesture of goodwill. In general, the officials of the international federation have saved themselves a loophole for status refusals. It turns out that now an athlete can be accused of anti-doping unreliability and deprived of the right to start in the complete absence of any violations in this area.

The issues related to obtaining visa documents may become a separate problem. In many sports, this has become a barrier to our athletes going to official starts, despite the admission.

"You and I have seen many examples where athletes are allowed in, but some countries do not issue visas," Dmitry Svishchev emphasized to Izvestia. — We know that skiing is very popular in northern and central Europe. In many of these countries, the Russophobic mood is powerful, especially among politicians. As a rule, it's not the athletes who set the tone, but the politicians who regulate the process. Therefore, I really hope for the help of the IOC and the international federation. Without their help, there may be some kind of surprises. We will take into account the experience of colleagues from other sports who have faced such problems, and predict in advance the options for an unfriendly attitude on the part of the host countries.

Any relaxation in the admission of Russian athletes to the world stage is a good thing. But the situation in ski sports is still difficult to call adequate and consistent with the recommendations of the IOC. The situation with the AIN status for Alexander Bolshunov and Veronika Stepanova is likely to become one of the most acute in the near future. The latter, perhaps, after her political statements, will refuse to start without a flag at all. As for Bolshunov, he seems to want to return to the international scene. But there is a lot of negativity around his figure in the Western ski community, so the examination of San Sanych's dossier takes on a political turn. And FIS officials will definitely face pressure when deciding whether to return the three-time Olympic champion to the World Cup and the World Championships, which will be held from February 24 to March 7, 2027 in the Swedish city of Falun.