Published on: 2026-04-13
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian –
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Moscow, April 13 /Xinhua/ — The International Federation of Aquatic Sports /World Aquatics/ has fully restored the rights of athletes from Russia and Belarus. This is reported on the organization’s website.
According to the decision of World Aquatics, athletes from both countries are allowed to participate in international competitions under the aegis of the federation using the national symbols of the Russian Federation and Belarus. This applies to all types of sports: swimming, open water swimming, diving, water polo, and synchronized swimming.
The Minister of Sport of the Russian Federation, Chairman of the Olympic Committee of Russia Mikhail Degtyarev wrote on his channel on the Max platform that the Ministry of Sport of the Russian Federation welcomes the decision of World Aquatics to lift sanctions on Russian athletes and allow them to participate in competitions under its auspices with the flag and anthem.
“We welcome the World Aquatics decision to allow Russian and Belarusian athletes to participate in all international aquatic sports competitions on an equal footing with other athletes—with national uniforms, flags, and anthems,” noted M. Degtyarev. “The rights of Russian athletes were discussed at a meeting with the head of World Aquatics, Hussein Al-Musallam, in January, at the Asian Olympic Council in Tashkent. I am grateful to him for his firm position on this matter. It is very important that international sports dialogue yields results and contributes to the systematic restoration of sporting relations.”
Russian and Belarusian swimmers were banned from international competitions in 2022, but were later allowed to compete as neutral athletes.
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