MOSCOW, April 10. /TASS/. The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) is considering the issue of bringing Russian athletes back to international competitions under a neutral status, the IBSF press office said in a statement to TASS on Thursday.
"The steps required for the practical implementation of the return of Russian athletes as neutral athletes to IBSF events are currently being developed by the IBSF and will be submitted to the Congress," the statement reads.
"It can be expected that this will be based on a similar process the Summer sports applied in the run up to and during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games," according to the IBSF.
On March 29, at an IBSF Congress extraordinary meeting, delegates agreed to postpone making any decision on Russian athletes’ admission to IBSF competitions in the capacity of neutral athletes until the next meeting of the organization’s Congress, which is scheduled for September 11 and 12, 2025 in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.
The 2026 Winter Olympic Games will be held in Italy, in the cities of Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo. The event will take place from February 6-22, 2026.
In mid-July 2022, the IBSF announced its decision to suspend Russian athletes from all international tournaments until further notice.
In late March, 2023, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended international sports federations to allow individual athletes from Russia and Belarus to participate in international sports tournaments, but only under specific 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.