MOSCOW, December 21. /TASS/. The national equestrian teams of Russia and Belarus will not be able to participate in the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in France, the International Equestrian Federation (FEI) announced in a statement on Thursday.
"According to the Olympic Qualification Systems for Equestrian, individual qualification is secured through the FEI Olympic Rankings for Jumping, Dressage, and Eventing, which cover the period from 1 January 2023 to 31 December 2023," according to the FIE’s statement.
"Since Russian and Belarusian athletes have not competed in FEI Events since 2 March 2022, no representatives of these nations will take part in the Paris 2024 Olympic Games," the statement said.
The 2024 Summer Olympic Games will be hosted by the French capital of Paris between July 26 and August 11.
The world’s governing body of equestrian sports added in its statement citing the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) that it also barred all Russian and Belarusian Paralympians from competing at the 2024 Summer Paralympic Games.
"The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) had taken a decision similar to the IOC in September, however, similarly to the Olympic Games, with the Qualifying events being in 2023, and Russian and Belarusian athletes not having competed in FEI Events since 2 March 2022, no ranking points could be earned, and hence no individual qualification slots could be allocated," the FEI statement reads.
On March 6, 2022 the FEI barred Russian athletes, horses and officials from participating in international competition following the recommendations of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). In April of this year, the FEI extended the suspension indefinitely.
In November, the FEI Executive Committee decided to review the restrictive measures in place for Russian and Belarusian riders, horses and officials and allowed them to compete under a neutral status. On December 21, the FEI announced new criteria for the admission of athletes from Russia and Belarus to international competitions.
IOC sanctions against Russia, Belarus
On February 28, 2022, the International Olympic Committee issued recommendations to international sports federations to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in international tournaments, citing Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine as the reason.
Following the IOC’s recommendations in late February 2022, the majority of global sports federations decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from all international sports tournaments.
In late March, 2023, the IOC recommended 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.
On July 26, 2023, the IOC extended invitations to the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris to 203 National Olympic Committees. Russia and Belarus did not receive invitations. The IOC explained later that there was no deadline regarding the issue of Russian and Belarusian athletes’ participation.