Could this decision radically change the field of athletes present at the Winter Olympics? The Court of Arbitration for Sport on Friday annulled the total exclusion of Russian athletes by the International Luge Federation (FIL), paving the way for the reintegration of lugers under a neutral banner according to a still uncertain timetable.
This measure, taken after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and confirmed in 2024 then last June, “is not proportionate” to achieve the only objective stated by the FIL, namely “to preserve safe racing conditions”, explains the sporting jurisdiction in a press release. The three CAS arbitrators “heard” the arguments of the luge body, which highlighted “the risk of incidents caused by the public or by other athletes” in the event of Russian participation and ensured that it was not “a sanction based on nationality”.
But for the court, “additional measures could be found to reconcile security with the participation of Russian athletes”: the CAS therefore canceled the ban on Russian competitors “fulfilling the criteria of neutral individual athletes”.
Towards a massive return of Russian athletes?
Three months before the 2026 Olympic Games in Milan-Cortina (February 6-22), this decision opens the way not only to the participation of Russian lugers under a neutral banner, but also to Russian appeals against the decisions of the International Ski Federation or that of Biathlon, which always strictly exclude their athletes.
Nothing says, however, that Russian lugers will return to competition in time to qualify for the Games, since it will be up to the FIL to examine requests for neutral status, assuming they have not publicly supported the war in Ukraine and have no links with the Russian army or security services. Thus, in the same decision, the CAS rejects the request of six Russian lugers to be immediately reinstated, and also rejects the speed skater Daria Kachanova, banned because of her affiliation with CSKA Moscow, “a sports club controlled by the Russian Ministry of Defense”.