According to this, Russian athletes will temporarily not be allowed to compete (and/or maybe train?) outside the country.
So hopefully that means we won’t have to worry about Bach and the IOC letting them back in soon.
Eteri is calling USFS on behalf of her daughter stat
I presume this is directed at athletes who hold a Russian passport and live & train in Russia currently, but compete for other countries, like Metelkina/Parkman, Safina/Berulava, Gubanova, Kvitelashvili, etc. Or even those who don't hold a Russian passport, but who train in Russia, like Shaidorov. I said this last week after Nebelhorn, but it bears repeating, those athletes need to work with their feds to set up a training base in Western Europe, the way Kazakova/Reviya did earlier in June. I'd be calling Hotarek at IceLab in Bergamo, or some of the new, developing pairs bases (Massot, Savchenko, Kiefer) to see if they have space for a couple of other teams. Same with Shaidorov, he probably needs to leave Moscow & Dmitriev sooner rather than later or risk being stuck there.
There isn't much they can do about the Russians like Davis/Smolkin who have already left the country, though maybe they should be concerned about standing near windows or walking across bridges, like some of those oligarchs. I don't see how they can force those athletes to return to Russia.
Now, the question is, what happens to skaters who have already left the country with the intent to switch countries, like the junior aged Russian girl now in Vancouver with her family that competed in the BC Summer Skate comp in July or August. She's just waiting on her formal release from the RFSF, which was supposed to be considered in December, and Skate Canada has gone through the proper channels with regard to her competing in their domestic events. This might mean she isn't granted a release after all. Is this a situation where the ISU Council (don't forget, Benoit Lavoie is the Figure Skating VP now) would step in and grant the release?
And what about coaches? Remember the impact on Russian skating that the post-USSR exodus of coaches had on the sport in the new Russia? That's really what they should be aiming to prevent, rather than targeting the current athletes. We've talked about Eteri trying to set up shop here in the US because of Diana, but what about the less controversial coaches, like Sokolovskaya, Buyanov, etc? What if they leave now that the invisible noose is really starting to tighten? How will the Russian sports ministry prevent them from leaving and finding work elsewhere?