IBSF plans to lift restrictions on Russians despite their links to the military

Athlete's link to the Russian armed forces

Ukrainian skeleton representative Vladyslav Heraskevych released information stating that his Russian colleague, bobsledder and skeleton racer Kirill Gusev, has joined the ranks of the Russian army. To substantiate his claims, Heraskevych published a video demonstrating screenshots from Gusev's Instagram account. Among them was a photo of a military patch with the slogan that "Russians storm cities for money," which, in the Ukrainian athlete's opinion, directly indicates the athlete's military service.

Planned changes to IBSF regulations

According to Heraskevych, an extraordinary congress of the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) is scheduled to take place in a few days. The initiative to hold the meeting and consider a specific issue was put forward by the federation's executive committee. The main topic of discussion is the possibility of allowing Russian athletes to participate in international starts without any restrictions.

Abolition of neutrality criteria

The proposed draft of changes provides for the complete cessation of neutrality checks for athletes. This means that the requirements for verifying their non-affiliation with Russian military structures and the absence of support for the war against Ukraine are eliminated. The Ukrainian side expresses concern that such actions may allow athletes with direct links to the aggressor's army or those who publicly support military operations to compete.

«Це робиться навмисно, щоб Кирило та інші, як він, могли вільно брати участь у міжнародних змагань та використовувати наш спорт для поширення російської пропаганди, нормалізувати дії свого уряду та зміцнювати режим путіна» (This is being done deliberately so that Kirill and others like him can freely participate in international competitions and use our sport to spread Russian propaganda, normalise the actions of their government, and strengthen the Putin regime), Heraskevych stated.