Milan-Cortina 2026, Russian Minister of Sport: “TAS gives green light to ski and snowboard qualifiers”

Rome, 2 December (LaPresse/AP) – Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyaryov said on Tuesday that the country’s skiers and snowboarders have been given the opportunity to apply to compete as neutral athletes in the qualifying competitions for the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. Degtyaryov posted on social media that an appeal filed by Russia with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) had overturned a blanket ban imposed by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS). The CAS has not yet published its ruling, which would represent another legal victory for Russian and Belarusian winter sports athletes after nearly four years of exclusion from international competitions during the war in Ukraine. In October, a similar appeal to the CAS by the Russian Luge Federation and some athletes ruled against a long-standing blanket ban based on their passports.