News ISU to allow Russian/Belarusians as neutral athletes

[Mathematician]

Beginning with the 2026–27 season, figure skaters and support personnel from Russia and Belarus will once again be allowed to compete in ISU events—but only as neutral athletes (AINs) and only if they meet strict eligibility requirements.

ISU announcement
Russian Skating Union

 

[Azikin]

Now I can finally look forward to JGP again. Hopefully they won't cut Russia's spots to minimum.

 

[FlossieH]

I am confused about what will happen for Euros and Worlds. The document states the following in 1.3:

"Where quotas apply, the number of neutral athletes is determined by the same objective, results- and ranking-based qualification mechanics that apply to all Skaters, and not by reference to nationality."

Does that mean, as there is no reference to nationality, each neutral athlete with the technical minimums can be entered as one quota place. Or does it mean that there can only be one neutral athlete/team per event this year, and next year's number of neutral athletes will be determined by the results of this year's entrants? If the latter, that is effectively the same as having a national quota - except the Belorussian skaters probably won't get a look in.

 

[cocteautwin]

Now I can finally look forward to JGP again. Hopefully they won't cut Russia's spots to minimum.

Russia doesn't have any spots and is still not allowed to compete. Some athletes from Russia may compete as neutral if they meet criteria. However, this comment only shows how hypocritical the whole "neutral status" is.

I believe neutral athletes will have minimum spots, there are no merits to give them more as spot allocation is based on the recent junior wordls results and neither of them was there. Or am I missing something? It was similar for China when they didn't send their athletes to Jr worlds held in Taiwan (2024) - they ended up with minimum jr grand prix spots next season, which is 1 entry in 2 events for singles and ice dance and 1 entry in 3 events for pairs. Not sure if I'm correct with this assumption though.
What is unclear for me is if ISU will count AIN athletes as a whole (which makes no sense to me) or separately by federation/ISU membership (more likely imo).

 

[Paulipau]

WE ARE BACK BABY!!??
RIGHT?
RIGHT?

 

[YuBluByMe]

I am confused about what will happen for Euros and Worlds. The document states the following in 1.3:

"Where quotas apply, the number of neutral athletes is determined by the same objective, results- and ranking-based qualification mechanics that apply to all Skaters, and not by reference to nationality."

Does that mean, as there is no reference to nationality, each neutral athlete with the technical minimums can be entered as one quota place.

That is my interpretation. In theory, this means that there can be more than three AIN athletes at Worlds and Europeans. Being that there is supposed to be no affiliation with country, then this should also mean that skaters will not be selected by the country, as well.

BREAK
FINALLY!!! I had a strong feeling they will be allowed this season! The first step is the return so I’m trying not to be greedy. I’ll wait to the end of the season before sounding off about anything.

 

[Andrina]

Damn it. I already bought my EC tickets...

 

[icetug]

Is AIN an ISU member?

10.1.2 ISU Championships Participation
10.1.2.3
ISU World Championships
Participation in World Championships is open to Skaters who belong to an ISU Member (for exceptions see Article 8.5 above) and fulfil the minimum Technical Requirements as stated in the respective Sports Rules.

EuropeanChampionships
In European Championships the only Skaters who are eligible to compete are individuals who belong to an ISU Member of a European country as defined by the Council of Europe and fulfil the minimum Technical Requirements as stated in the respective Sports Rules.

And Article 8.5:
In exceptional cases (such as, in the case of a refugee, stateless or neutral athlete), the Council itself may enter a Competitor for a specific event. A Competitor entered by the ISU does not count towards the quota of the country of their citizenship or residence.

 

[Karoltyna]

So I guess I won't be watching many competitions this season. It was fun with you here.

 

[Cutting the ice]

What is the actual meaning of a "neutral" athlete? Do the individual athletes need to declare their political neutrality? What about funding - is it just private? I am puzzled as to how neutrality requirements are met by the skaters, understanding that it was spelled out well for the Olympics.

 

[decafjava]

Not looking forward to this thread. Happy that some Russian athletes may compete like Piotr and Adelya.

 

[lariko]

Hurray! Need to get all the information!!!

 

[lariko]

It looks like the decision can be appealed if ISU decides to withhold the status, so at least we won't have the same situation as with the Olympics when Galiamov's big mouth stops qualification of Boikova/Kozlovski or unknown cause stops qualification for Stepanova/Bukin, plus Kaganovskaya/Nekrasov

Someone, please cut Irina Kostyleva's access to social media like forever or she will tank Elena's chances somehow.

This season is ON!!! I am also leaving to visit Mom tomorrow, so we will have bazillion of things to talk about.

YAY! figure skating is back!

Starting to save money for next season to attend more than 1 GP if the Russians will claw back the spots. Seeing them coming for it out of the gate in Challengers is gonna be something!

 

[frompolandwithlove]

We'll see how it goes, maybe it won't be as bad as I imagine. But for now I remain highly sceptical. (Also, not gonna lie, big chunk of my excitement for new season is gone.)

 

[brens78]

Happy! But not happy with possibly seeing Eteri on a regular basis again.

 

[lariko]

Happy! But not happy with possibly seeing Eteri on a regular basis again.

It's not like she went anywhere anyway, she was visible at the ISU events more than at the Russian internal ones.

 

[brens78]

It's not like she went anywhere anyway, she was visible at the ISU events more than at the Russian internal ones.

I wasn’t really following a lot of figure skating or in this forum til the recent Olympics and with Russians being banned I thought she was just coaching internally and surprised to see her in Milan.

 

[Ziotic]

The whole quota thing is going to be a huge mess.

 

[lariko]

I wasn’t really following a lot of figure skating or in this forum til the recent Olympics and with Russians being banned I thought she was just coaching internally and surprised to see her in Milan.

No, she is a coach for skaters who do not skate for Russia. Since she is ramping up in pairs as well, she continues to be a fixture. What readmission of Russians does is improves the chances of other coaches to come to the international events, and there are quite a few talented and much more in tune with the changing attitudes towards the sport coaches in Russian new generation, at least based on the interviews.

 

[Azikin]

No, she is a coach for skaters who do not skate for Russia. Since she is ramping up in pairs as well, she continues to be a fixture.

She is, after all, one of the most successful coaches in the history of the sport.