The Chairman of the Russian Ski Federation welcomed the updated criteria for the admission of athletes to FIS competitions

Chairman of the Russian Ski and Snowboard Federation Dmitry Svishchev positively assessed the updated criteria for the admission of Russian athletes to international competitions under the auspices of FIS. His words are quoted by Sport Express.

The International Ski and Snowboard Federation on September 22 approved the application process for neutral status. A clause was removed from the document that prohibited granting status to athletes enrolled in structures affiliated with the armed forces or security agencies of the country. The change opens up the opportunity for representatives of CSKA and Dynamo to participate in competitions.

“The admission criteria published by FIS is a decision that we evaluate as an important and truly welcome step. Our voice has been heard, and the constructive dialogue that we have been conducting all these months has yielded its first fruits. The main thing today is: for the first time in a long time, our athletes have a clear and transparent mechanism for participating in international competitions,” said Svishchev.

The functionary also noted that the changes concern more than 700 athletes from the expanded Russian skiing and snowboarding teams. According to him, many of them will now have a real opportunity to compete at the international level, subject to the established criteria.

Previously, the Court of Arbitration for Sport declared illegal the FIS’s total ban on the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in international competitions under a neutral flag.