IOC lifts ban on Belarus, ban on Russia lifted July 2026

[SakuraHere]

Did the Russians win?

Come on, the lawsuit was just filed.

 

[victorskid]

A Canadian response to the IOC decision:

https://www.cbc.ca/sports/olympics/canada-objection-ioc-loosening-suspension-russian-athletes-9.7264603

 

[coppertop1]

Adam Van Koeverden never minces for words.

 

[Winnipeg]

Nothing has changed since the original ban. To all of a sudden say, let's lift the ban, means the rule was never really a proper rule; rather a unilateral decision made by the IOC at whim. Makes a mockery of the rules IMHO.

Same with the doping rules; why have rules if you do not follow them consistently?

 

[cholla]

In other words if an abused one never sued an abuser, an abuse didn't happen.

No. That is a simplistic, preposterous and perverse shortcut but not surprising coming from a twisted and nasty little mind like yours.

It took you 62 years of life to come to this intelligent conclusion. Well done.

66. If I were you I wouldn't talk about intelligence as you keep on proving you have some massive lacks in this field. Thinking that a country like Russia can be banned illegally, and not get the ban overturned on existing legal ground is the epitome of stupidity. Russia did complain to the CAS and was dismissed. The ban was considered within the jurisdictional competence of IOC + federations and legally valid. So much for your so called illegality. BTW Russia is the abuser, not the abused. End of the troll feeding. Get lost.

 

[SakuraHere]

Furthermore, with the election of Kirsty Coventry last summer as IOC President, the writing has been on the wall with regard to the ban remaining intact for much longer than it has stood.

I don't know that Russia would have necessarily been banned in 2022 had the Valieva scandal not tarnished the Winter Olympics' most prestigious figure skating event.

Kirsty is a woman. She is not obsessed with power and control like most of males.

It wasn't Valieva who made a scandal but WADA. Had they informed Russians on time, RusFed would have put another girl on the team who would have beaten an American one and Russians would have ended up with team gold anyway. That wasn't the plan. That's why they orchestrated the scandal exactly in time and WADA was the only one who could do that. So, if you want to send a thank you card for that scandal, send it to WADA.

 

[SakuraHere]

The ban was considered within the jurisdictional competence of IOC + federations and legally valid.

And now the same jurisdictional competence of IOC lifted the ban. You are applying their competence only when it suits you. It's hypocrisy. All ISU decisions about Russia and Belarus were based on IOC decisions. So be consistent and keep issuing your decisions based on IOC. They don't. There is absolutely no legal grounds, no paper to back up, nothing. Only their corrupted wish. But it's not how the law works. It's stupid to deny the obvious.

 

[cholla]

And now the same jurisdictional competence of IOC lifted the ban. You are applying their competence only when it suits you.

What does that have to do with me? I don't have to apply anything to anything. IOC has jurisdiction to ban a country hence to lift it. Who else could? CAS. And they confirmed the sanction. The lift doesn't have to be confirmed by any authority, it's up to the international federations. Even a 5 years old child would get it.

It's hypocrisy. All ISU decisions about Russia and Belarus were based on IOC decisions. So be consistent and keep issuing your decisions based on IOC.

They ARE based on IOC. You obviously have no idea about how it works or you know and have decided to ignore it to serve your propaganda. Please find me a law text that shows that all that is illegal and please provide a link. As long as you can't anything you say is a dumb belief in stupid conspiracy. Even Russia dropped the complains after being dismissed. Even Russia doesn't agree with your irrelevant assertions.

They don't. There is absolutely no legal grounds, no paper to back up, nothing.

IOC Charter IS legal.

Only their corrupted wish. But it's not how the law works. It's stupid to deny the obvious.

Yes it definitely is and you keep on proving it. Sport has its laws. None of them has been breached. Read the Olympic Charter.

Real end of the troll feeding as you go now straight to my ignore list.

 

[spin2win]

sharing information from reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/FigureSkat...sian_athletes_begin_the_process_of_receiving/

It's a telegram channel message apparently from "Sport-Express" reporting? They are claiming that the AIN check will be very loose with most granted access and no questions about Ukraine or ties to security forces.

This paperwork and questionnaire was given to everyone on main and reserve rosters.

 

[Karen-W]

sharing information from reddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/FigureSkat...sian_athletes_begin_the_process_of_receiving/

It's a telegram channel message apparently from "Sport-Express" reporting? They are claiming that the AIN check will be very loose with most granted access and no questions about Ukraine or ties to security forces.

This paperwork and questionnaire was given to everyone on main and reserve rosters.

My understanding is that's the RFSF's form. Maybe they have assurances from the ISU that it's adequate but we know how over-confident the Russian media has been in past years only to turn out to be completely wrong.

 

[SakuraHere]

the Olympic Charter.

So, ISU knows it better than IOC. News of the week. Exactly Olympic Charter is the reason why IOC lifted the ban. To keep political neatrality and to avoid using sport for political reasons. ISU has no legal grounds to do what they are doing. It's embarrassing to deny the obvious.

 

[SakuraHere]

My understanding is that's the RFSF's form. Maybe they have assurances from the ISU that it's adequate but we know how over-confident the Russian media has been in past years only to turn out to be completely wrong.

Keep praying to your gods.

 

[Sylvia]

So this is the anthem, commissioned by the IOC, being played at the JGP medal ceremonies, starting today in Xi’an - “Anthem and flag for Individual Neutral Athletes” (starting at the Paris 2024 Olympics): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKLkub-pEFw&ra=m

ETA that the ISU script still reads (not surprisingly since it applies to all nations whose skaters win the gold): "Ladies and gentlemen, if you can, please stand for the national anthem of the winner."

 

[SakuraHere]

Why would they need that turquoise cloth. To call that music "national" is idiotic, which is the description of ISU. The scenes like that, when kids are smarter than ISU old farts, give the opposite effect- embarrassment of ISU that they of course didn't plan:

hanbebe 🇦🇲 (@w_addii) on X

oh 💔💔💔💔

x.com

 

[Sylvia]

I just watched the clip and thought Yanhao Li and Daiya Ebihara were very considerate of Lev Lazarev's feelings.

 

[Karen-W]

The Ukrainian fed has formally asked the ISU to re-review the AIN status of the following skaters -

Mark Kondratiuk
Grigory Fedorov
Sofiia Dzepka
Kamila Valieva

Figure Skating Stuff (@figureskatinghq) on X

Their reasoning is

x.com

Here is the official letter:

https://www.ukrfsf.org.ua/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/ufsf-open-letter-with-annex-28-august-2026.pdf

Rumors are flying that Kondratiuk has been withdrawn from Kinoshita Group Cup.

Yuki (@YukiNieve) on X

Sport-Expressによるとコンドラチェク君は木下杯を辞退してVladislav Dikidzhi君がくるそうだ。憧れの選手がネイサンだとか。練習では4Aおりて（その後死ぬほど疲れたとか言ってて）話題になった人だよね？

x.com

 

[Sylvia]

УФФК надіслала в ISU листа щодо перегляду критеріїв «нейтральності» російських спортсменів - Українська федерація фігурного катання на ковзанах

Українська федерація Фігурного катання на ковзанах надіслала листа на адресу президента Міжнародної спілки ковзанярів (ISU), а також Ради ISU та членів

www.ukrfsf.org.ua

Here is the official letter:

https://www.ukrfsf.org.ua/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/ufsf-open-letter-with-annex-28-august-2026.pdf

100-page EXHIBITS To the UFSF Open Letter of 28 August 2026 (hyperlinked bundle of documents)(Documents not in English are followed by relevant translation in English): https://www.ukrfsf.org.ua/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/exhibits-to-the-ufsf-open-letter.pdf

 

[Karen-W]

УФФК надіслала в ISU листа щодо перегляду критеріїв «нейтральності» російських спортсменів - Українська федерація фігурного катання на ковзанах

Українська федерація Фігурного катання на ковзанах надіслала листа на адресу президента Міжнародної спілки ковзанярів (ISU), а також Ради ISU та членів

www.ukrfsf.org.ua

100-page EXHIBITS To the UFSF Open Letter of 28 August 2026 (hyperlinked bundle of documents)(Documents not in English are followed by relevant translation in English): https://www.ukrfsf.org.ua/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/exhibits-to-the-ufsf-open-letter.pdf

Thanks! I'm at work so I can't open the Ukrainian fed's letter or additional documents at the moment. Word on X is that they are also asking the ISU to review the AIN status of:

Evgeni Semenenko
Alexandra Ignatova (formerly Trusova)
Aleksandra Boikova/Dmitrii Kozlovskii

 

[Sylvia]

ISU stripped Kondratyuk of neutral status by Dmitry Kuznetsov (Sept. 1): https://www.sport-express.ru/figure-skating/news/isu-lishil-kondratyuka-neytralnogo-statusa-2451782/

Russian figure skater Mark Kondratyuk has been stripped of his neutral status by a decision of the International Skating Union (ISU), SE sources report.

This led to his withdrawal from the Kinoshita Group Cup tournament, where Vladislav Dikidzhi went instead of Kondratyuk.

The procedure provides for a case-by-case review and appeal. The decision to revoke status may not be final.

On September 1, the Ukrainian Figure Skating Federation announced that it had submitted a request to the ISU to reconsider the neutral status of several Russian figure skaters. Among them are Evgeni Semenenko, Mark Kondratyuk, Grigori Fedorov, Sofia Dzepka, Alexandra Ignatova, Kamila Valieva, and Alexandra Boikova/Dmitri Kozlovskii.

 

[SakuraHere]

That's BS. Those fools were asking the same before Milan against Gumennik and Petrosyan. They ask the same from other sport organisations. Nobody listens to them. And even friendly to Russian skaters Japanese couldn't issue a visa to Dikidzhi within few hours. Something else is going on behind the scenes. Perhaps they are giving ammunition to RusFed to go to CAS and get their flag back. In this case ISU old farts will be safe.

 

[TAHbKA]

Am still in awe Valieva was given AIN at the first place. It's sad UKR federation has to do the ISU job, especially with Valieva where one just has to open her official instagram to see she should not be AIN.

 

[Private Citizen]

The ISU seems to be making up the AIN process as it goes along and doing a typically stellar job at implementing it.

Either allowing the Russians outright or banning the Russians outright would seem to be better than this complicated and ever-changing halfway approach, with 100-page dossiers and people approved only to then be unapproved.

 

[Karen-W]

The ISU seems to be making up the AIN process as it goes along and doing a typically stellar job at implementing it.

Either allowing the Russians outright or banning the Russians outright would seem to be better than this complicated and ever-changing halfway approach, with 100-page dossiers and people approved only to then be unapproved.

Part of the issue with the current process is that the ISU basically accepted, without review, all of the athletes submitted by the RFSF - and those athletes merely had to fill out a form where they claimed they were neutral & sign said form.

Also worth noting, there were reports last week that Mishina/Galliamov have been denied AIN status again. And Stepanova/Bukin are also rumored to have been denied.

 

[skatfan]

I’m sorry the Ukrainian Fed had to do this, but glad that somebody spoke up.

 

[ChelleC]

ISU stripped Kondratyuk of neutral status by Dmitry Kuznetsov (Sept. 1): https://www.sport-express.ru/figure-skating/news/isu-lishil-kondratyuka-neytralnogo-statusa-2451782/

This makes me want to dance.

Now do Valieva.

 

[victorskid]

Jackie Wong's "summary" of the Ukrainian letter: https://www.rockerskating.com/blog/ukraine-asks-isu-to-review-eligibilty

 

[Ka3sha]

For some people on this list the reasoning is very arguable.
Like with Boikova/Kozlovskii, who never went to a mentioned meeting with Putin or never gotten a presidential award. You have to have an Olympic medal to get an award and only Olympic Champions were invited to the meeting (Scherbakova who declined, Team Event skaters who were considered Olympic Champions)
It’s as if B/K were mixed up with M/G, who indeed went to that meeting and got an award.
As far as I remember, Trusova was given a presidential award of a lower rank as an Olympic medalist, but she again was not present or invited to the meeting.

Or Sofiia Dzepka who is a girl and a minor and couldn’t even theoretically have signed a contract with the army. And while yes, she is training in CSKA, she is not the only one doing it (Lev Lazarev is as well, for example) but the only one mentioned.

 

[Karen-W]

For some people on this list the reasoning is very arguable.
Like with Boikova/Kozlovskii, who never went to a mentioned meeting with Putin or never gotten a presidential award. You have to have an Olympic medal to get an award and only Olympic Champions were invited to the meeting (Scherbakova who declined, Team Event skaters who were considered Olympic Champions)
It’s as if B/K were mixed up with M/G, who indeed went to that meeting and got an award.

That's my theory also on BoiKoz. But the other problem they have is they did skate in that pro-war show in the spring of 2022. I know the circumstances were... Not ideal and they (and Tuktamysheva) have claimed since the start that the pre-show war rally was sprang on them at the last minute & they were told by the show organizers either they show up or they wouldn't be paid. I could probably handwave that away since it was the only incident where they showed any public pro-war support & it was 4.5 years ago.

As far as I remember, Trusova was given a presidential award of a lower rank as an Olympic medalist, but she again was not present or invited to the meeting.

Did Trusova attend any rallies during the spring or summer of 2022? I want to say she may have appeared somewhere to receive the award though my memory matches yours that she didn't appear with Putin at any Kremlin reception.

Or Sofiia Dzepka who is a girl and a minor and couldn’t even theoretically have signed a contract with the army. And while yes, she is training in CSKA, she is not the only one doing it (Lev Lazarev is as well, for example) but the only one mentioned.

Honestly, that one is puzzling. I feel like all CSKA skaters' AIN status should be challenged. We'll see what the Ukrainian fed does in the coming days since there's lots of discourse on X pointing out the discrepancies you've mentioned.

 

[YukiNieve]

Rumors are flying that Kondratiuk has been withdrawn from Kinoshita Group Cup.

Oh that's my X post, lol.
Forgot to add the link of sport-express but Sylvia did it for me.

 

[Karen-W]

Oh that's my X post, lol.
Forgot to add the link of sport-express but Sylvia did it for me.

I knew it was your X post.