FIS wants to keep the Russian star out. Bolshunov and his team have very different plans.

The International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) confirmed on Friday evening that it has rejected the Russian ski star’s application. Alexander Bolshunov will not be granted neutral status for the coming season. 

The Russian Ski Federation has now also confirmed that the ski star’s application was turned down. 

“Our three-time Olympic champion Alexander Bolshunov was denied neutral status without any real reason,” says Russian ski federation president Dmitri Svishchev to Russian media.

He strongly condemns the decision. 

“We consider the decision to be purely political. This has nothing to do with sport, law or common sense,” says Svishchev. 

Refusing to give up

The Russian federation is now announcing a counterattack. 

“Alexander (Bolshunov) will defend his rights at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), and we will assist him and support him throughout the entire process. Comprehensive support for our athletes is our highest priority,” the press office of the Russian Ski Federation says. 

“Today, Alexander and I decided to appeal the rejection to CAS and sue FIS. We will now help him prepare all the documents, and we will ask for the application to be handled as an urgent case with an expedited process,” says Svishchev.

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Condemns the Nordic countries

The Russian ski federation president is furious about developments in recent weeks.  

In addition to the decision to reject Bolshunov’s application, several countries have announced in recent days that they will also refuse entry to athletes who have been approved as neutral athletes. 

On Thursday, Finnish authorities decided to turn away Russian athletes, including those who already hold valid visas from other Schengen countries. A few hours later, Norway made a similar decision. On Friday, Sweden announced that it will stop Russian athletes from competing at the World Championships in Falun.  

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

FIS, for its part, says it has no influence over what national authorities decide on the right of entry, and that such decisions override FIS’s own rules. 

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