MOSCOW, August 21. /TASS/. The Russian Bobsleigh Federation (RBF) has received an official letter inviting it to participate in the 2023 Congress of the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) next month, RBF Secretary General Sergey Parkhomenko told TASS on Monday.

The IBSF Congress is scheduled to take place in the Spanish city of Santa Susanna, near Barcelona, on September 23-24.

"The Russian Bobsleigh Federation received an official invitation from the international federation," Parkhomenko said. "Our federation’s President Anatoly Pegov, Vice-President Yelena Anikina and myself are planning on attending the Congress."

In mid-July 2022, the IBSF announced its decision to suspend Russian athletes from all international tournaments until further notice.

At its session on January 25, 2023, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board put forward a proposal to permit individual athletes from Russia and Belarus to take part in international sports tournaments but only under certain conditions.

Specifically, athletes from the two countries should not be "actively supporting" Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine and must compete under a neutral status. Russia and Belarus were also banned from participating in international team events.