Visa confusion grows in the World Cup; nobody knows who can race where, and now Sweden makes a new statement about Russians at the World Championships in Falun.

On Friday afternoon, Swedish authorities announced that they want to keep Russia out of the World Championships in Falun. The result could be that half of the World Cup is held without Russians and the other half with them.

Swedish authorities have already said they are looking at ways to ban Russian athletes from the World Championships in Falun in February. Now they are stepping up the work, and the goal is to have a system in place before the championships.

“It is about putting in place a system that allows us to deny Russian athletes entry to Sweden, and a system that means this can apply regardless of whether they have a visa from another country or not,” says Forssmed to SR Ekot.

Minister for Migration Johan Forsell says the government is investigating how such a system can be put in place within the rules. 

“We want to find solutions within the framework of the constitution, and that do not involve ministerial control, to make sure that no Russian athletes come to Sweden, even if they have received a visa in another country,” he says.

Full stop in Scandinavia, open elsewhere

The news from Sweden comes after Finland first announced that it will deny visas to Russian athletes from Monday, November 16. 

Also Read – Now: Denied visas, threatening legal action

A few hours later, Norwegian authorities followed with the same message. 

Read More: Norway also says no to Russian athletes

The decision to deny entry also applies to Russians who have received a Schengen visa from another Western European country. 

This means there will most likely be no Russian skiers at the World Cup opener in Ruka in two weeks, or in Trondheim from December 4 to 6. 

Now Sweden has made its move. 

The result could be that half of the World Cup weekends this winter will have Russian athletes on the start line, while the World Championships and the World Cup weekends in Norway, Sweden and Finland are held without Russians. 

Russia strongly provoked

The developments of the last few weeks have led Russian ski federation president Dmitri Svischev to react strongly. This concerns both the bans and the fact that some athletes have not been granted neutral status even though they meet the requirements of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS). 

Earlier this week, he called the skiers to a crisis meeting. 

Read More – New twist just days before the season starts: Russian skiers called to crisis meeting

“‘We do not want Russians in our competitions, and we will take this further with the authorities.’ Why on earth should the Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish federations ask about such things? They have agreed to hold competitions under rules that are clearly set, including visas for athletes regardless of their nationality. So come on and do what you have committed to do,” he says angrily in an interview with Championat.

“They know very well that we will defend our athletes. We have made it clear to FIS that we will take it to court if we have to,” says Svishchev. 

On Friday afternoon, Russian media confirmed that the federation has filed an appeal because FIS has still not made a decision on whether to give Alexander Bolshunov neutral status. 

Also Read: Season openers in cross-country skiing and biathlon: program and TV times

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