GENEVA, May 7. /TASS/. The International Fencing Union (FIE) has ruled to allow athletes representing Russia to compete neutrally under the union-sanctioned international team events, including the upcoming World and European Championships, the FIE’s press office said in a statement on Wednesday.
Fencers representing Russia would be able to participate in team competitions at the 2025 FIE European Championship between June 14 and 19 in Italy’s Genoa and the 2025 FIE World Championship in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi between July 22 and 30.
The national fencing teams of Russian athletes were cleared to take part in the tournaments under the neutral status flying the colors of the official FIE flag.
"Neutral teams, which will be composed of athletes who have been granted AIN [Individual Neutral Athletes] status by the FIE Executive Committee, will be allowed to participate in FIE senior team competitions, starting from the 2025 Senior European Championships. The Neutral teams will fence under the FIE flag," the FIE Executive Committee was quoted as saying in the statement.
In early March, the FIE Executive board ruled to allow athletes representing national junior teams from Russia and Belarus to compete under a neutral status in team events at the Wuxi 2025 Junior and Cadet Fencing World Championships, hosted by China between April 7 and 15.
In March 2024, the International Fencing Federation (FIE) allowed athletes from Russia and Belarus to take part in international competitions under a neutral status and in line with recommendations from the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
At its session in January 2023, the IOC Executive Board put forward a proposal to permit individual athletes from Russia and Belarus to take part in international sports tournaments, but only under certain conditions. Athletes from the countries in question should not be "actively supporting" Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine and must compete under a neutral status.
The FIE followed the IOC’s recommendations and did not issue neutral status permits to Russian fencers representing top Russian sports franchises CSKA and Dinamo.
IOC sanctions against Russia, Belarus
On February 28, 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued recommendations to international sports federations to prohibit athletes from Russia and Belarus from participating in international tournaments, citing Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine as the reason.
Following the IOC’s recommendations in late February 2022, the majority of global sports federations decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from all international sports tournaments.
In late March, 2023, the IOC recommended allowing individual athletes from Russia and Belarus to participate in international sports tournaments, but only under specific conditions. Specifically, athletes from the two countries should not be "actively supporting" Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine and must compete under a neutral status. Russia and Belarus were also banned from participating in international team events.
On October 12, 2023, the IOC suspended the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) until further notice after the Russian organization included the Olympic councils of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), the Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions as its members.