The World Athletics Council has confirmed that sanctions against Russian and Belarusian athletes, officials, and support personnel will remain in force. The governing body has therefore reaffirmed the decision first adopted following the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in March 2022, according to the press service of the Athletics Federation of Ukraine.
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said the Council had considered several options regarding the future of the sanctions but concluded that there were still no grounds for easing them.
“The original sanctions remain in place because they protect the integrity and fairness of our competitions, and because there has been no meaningful progress toward peace negotiations,” Sebastian Coe said.
This means that World Athletics will not follow the International Olympic Committee’s recommendations to ease restrictions on Russian and Belarusian athletes.
President of the Athletics Federation of Ukraine Olha Saladukha thanked World Athletics and Sebastian Coe for maintaining their principled position.
“World Athletics has consistently remained on the side of clean and fair sport. This is a strong position, and unfortunately not everyone in the global sporting community has managed to uphold it. That is why this decision is so important — it serves as a benchmark for world sport. All Ukrainian athletes are grateful for such a principled stance. It restores our faith in justice and motivates us to keep moving forward,” Olha Saladukha said.
She also expressed confidence that the Ukrainian sporting community, together with World Athletics, would continue to defend the values of freedom, peace, and fair competition on which international sport is based.
