CAS requests that Russian and Belarusian athletes participate in FIS qualification events for Milano Cortina 2026

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced today that it partially upheld the appeals filed by the Russian Ski Association, the Belarusian Ski Union, and a group of athletes from both countries against the decision not to facilitate the participation of athletes from Russia and Belarus as Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) in FIS qualification events for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games.

The CAS decision allows the participation of all athletes and support personnel of Russian and Belarusian sporting nationality as AIN in qualification events for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, as well as in the Games themselves, in compliance with the IOC eligibility criteria for AIN.

FIS has acknowledged the CAS decision. All affected athletes who are eligible to request for AIN status ─ in conformance with the FIS Individual Neutral Athlete Policy ─ should do so by sending an email to: neutralathletes@fis-ski.com .

The FIS Individual Neutral Athlete Policy elaborates on the conditions and the process for athletes and support personnel from Russia and Belarus to take part in FIS events. This includes:

• Athletes may only participate in competitions in the FIS Calendar in an individual and neutral capacity. This means that they cannot participate in competitions which are based on a classification by teams.

  • Support personnel must meet the same eligibility criteria as athletes, and only persons holding a high-level medical or technical function which is essential to the participation of Individual Neutral Athletes may be granted accreditation.

• Participation in competitions as AIN is conditional on strict neutrality towards the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. This requirement is outlined in the following points:

  • No voluntary link with the Russian or Belarusian military or with any other national security agency.

  • No communication associated with Russia or Belarus.

  • No support for the war in Ukraine.

• Athletes must comply with all anti-doping requirements applicable to them, in particular those set out in the FIS Anti-Doping Rules.

  • During the period of ineligibility of Russian and Belarusian athletes, the FIS Anti-Doping activities continued and remained operational.

• Athletes and support personnel should submit their applications to FIS, which will then proceed to verify compliance with the requirements for Individual Neutral Athlete status. Applications will be reviewed by a FIS Individual Neutral Athlete Eligibility Review Panel (FIS AINERP) composed as follows:

  • FIS Secretary General

  • An independent sports integrity expert

  • A representative of the FIS administration presenting the report of the external due diligence report and anti-doping status.

FIS will publish on its website the list of athletes to whom the status of Individual Neutral Athlete has been granted.

As per the decision made by the FIS Council, the FIS points obtained by athletes of Russian and Belarusian sporting nationality shall remain protected until June 2026.

Qualification and quota information is available for all FIS Olympic disciplines and for all FIS Paralympic disciplines.