MOSCOW, December 1. /TASS/. The General Assembly of European Gymnastics voted against letting Russian and Belarusian athletes back into its events next year, the federation’s press office said in a statement on Friday.

"The General Assembly of European Gymnastics has voted against allowing athletes and officials from Russia and Belarus to return to official European Gymnastics competitions from 1 January 2024 onwards, thus not following the FIG decision," the statement reads.

Russian and Belarusian gymnasts have been barred from international competition since March 2022 over the situation in Ukraine. In July 2023, the Executive Committee of the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) allowed athletes from Russia and Belarus to take part in the international events under a neutral status starting from January 1, 2024.

On November 10, the FIG published a list of criteria for Russian athletes to take part in competitions supervised by the federation.

According to the published FIG criteria, only individual athletes will be allowed to compete internationally. Representatives of Russia and Belarus are prohibited from displaying any national symbols, or any symbols of their national gymnastics federations or National Olympic Committees.

Permission to participate in sanctioned events will be granted only to those athletes who have not expressed support for the special military operation in Ukraine (including expressing approval for Russia’s military operation on social media platforms through reposts or forwarded messages) and who are not affiliated with the armed forces or national security agencies.

Heads of national delegations, coaches, doctors and physiotherapists may also be allowed to participate. Russian and Belarusian state officials cannot be invited or accredited for any event supervised by the FIG and they also cannot participate as accompanying personnel.