World Aquatics announced that senior athletes who were forced to compete as neutral athletes without their country’s uniforms, flags or national anthems, will be allowed to compete in full once again.
The World Aquatics Bureau had previously amended the Guidelines – which are implemented by the Aquatics Integrity Unit (AQIU) – to enable junior athletes with Belarusian or Russian sport nationality to participate on the same basis as their fellow junior athletes.
“Over the last three years, World Aquatics and the AQIU have successfully helped ensure that conflict can be kept outside the sporting competition venues. We are determined to ensure that pools and open water remain places where athletes from all nations can come together in peaceful competition,” said World Aquatics President Husain Al Musallam.
More than 700 screenings were conducted on athletes with Belarusian or Russian sport nationality as part of the application of the Guidelines. Individuals with those sport nationalities participated as Neutral Individual Athletes since 2023, later being joined by teams.
While altering the application of the Guidelines, key provisions were agreed by the World Aquatics Bureau in the interest of safe and fair competitions.
Athletes with Belarusian or Russian sport nationality will only be permitted to compete once they have successfully passed at least four successive anti-doping controls carried out in partnership with the International Testing Agency (ITA) and completed background checks with the AQIU.
Russia and Belarus now also resume full membership rights under Article 6 of the World Aquatics Constitution.
