Where does the case regarding sanctions against Russian athletes stand? The Russian Athletics Federation filed, in early July, a new complaint with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to challenge World Athletics’ sanctions.
The world governing body of athletics had confirmed a few days earlier the exclusion of Russian athletes from these competitions. A decision at odds with that of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). On its side, the IOC had decided to reintegrate Russian athletes ahead of the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.
“We wanted to guarantee to all athletes the possibility of participating in the Olympic Games and not to be held responsible for the acts of their government,” had said Kirsty Coventry, the head of the IOC.
World Gymnastics and the International Skating Union took a similar decision to the body that oversees the Olympic Games by loosening their restrictions against Russian competitors.
World Athletics will defend itself at CAS!
World Athletics continues to refuse to lift the sanctions imposed on Russian athletes. Its president, the British Sebastian Coe, said on Friday that he was ready to appear “before the arbitral tribunal to defend this position,” on the margins of the European Athletics Championships currently taking place in Birmingham. “This is not about politics or passports. It is about the integrity of the competition, and that is the position we will defend,” explained the two-time Olympic 1500 m champion.
With his remarks, he indirectly responds to the Russian Federation, which claims that the sanctions are “selective and politicized.”
World Athletics established in 2022 a dedicated fund to help support Ukrainian athletes. It also insisted that there was “no doubt that the ability of Ukraine and its athletes to train and compete remains seriously compromised.”
At the start of July, Ukraine condemned the IOC’s decision regarding the participation of Russian athletes in Los Angeles, calling it “premature” and “unfounded.”
