The FINA Bureau announced its decision to bar athletes and officials representing Belarus and Russia from the upcoming 2022 FINA World Championships on Wednesday. The decision comes after the aquatics federation had originally provided a pathway for Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete internationally in a neutral capacity.
However, a recently adopted bylaw gave FINA the power to review the participation of athletes and officials at certain events on a case-by-case basis in emergency situations. Athletes and officials could then be barred from events under that framework if their participation threatened “the safety and wellbeing of athletes” or placed the “conduct of competition at risk.”
Wednesday’s decision saw action taken under that framework by the FINA Bureau. Russia and Belarus were barred from participating at the 2022 FINA World Championships and the city of Kazan, Russia was removed as host of the 2022 FINA Swimming World Championships (25m).
In response to Wednesday’s decision, the Russian Swimming Federation confirmed its intention to withdraw Russian athletes from all FINA events this year. This decision mostly affects athletes who may still have competed at select events internationally in a neutral capacity.
The decision to bar Russian and Belarusian participation at the upcoming World Championships may have been influenced by an increasing number of national federations threatening to boycott the event if Russian and Belarusian athletes were allowed to compete.
Meanwhile, the removal of Kazan as host of the 2022 FINA Swimming World Championships (25m) left FINA searching for a new host. The aquatics federation stated that it wished to maintain the originally scheduled dates for the championship, which are December 17-22.
In tandem with the decisions taken by the FINA Bureau, it was announced the FINA Disciplinary Panel had opened a case against Russian swimmer Evgeny Rylov. The federation stated the panel was looking into a potential violation of FINA rules following reports Rylov had participated in a large pro-war rally at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.
Rylov was already facing consequences for his alleged actions before the procedure initiated by the FINA Disciplinary Panel. Swimwear company Speedo announced on Tuesday it had terminated their sponsorship with Rylov, adding the company would donate any outstanding sponsorship fees to the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR).
FINA did not provide a specific timeline for proceedings initiated by its Disciplinary Panel, though the federation did note the FINA Executive Board had asked for proceedings to be expedited.
The organization also took the opportunity to once more condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and reiterate their commitment to supporting the Ukrainian Swimming, Diving and Artistic Swimming Federation.
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