Russian athletes continue to face visa obstacles despite gradual return to international competitions
The return of Russian athletes to the international stage accelerated during 2026 following a series of decisions by the International Olympic Committee and individual sports federations, but access to competitions still does not depend solely on sporting rules. One of the biggest practical obstacles remains visas and entry permits for host countries, particularly in Europe. Russian Sports Minister and President of the Russian Olympic Committee Mikhail Degtyarev estimated on 19 August that such difficulties could persist for approximately another year. In a statement reported by RBC, he said that the Russian side is currently resolving disputed cases individually, through contacts with international sports organisations and with assistance from the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His assessment comes after several specific cases in which Russian national teams or individual athletes received visas only after additional discussions or with delays shortly before major competitions.
Degtyarev also presented a political forecast that international federations could eventually stop awarding major competitions to countries where Russian athletes are not guaranteed entry. Such a policy has not currently been adopted as a general rule in international sport. There is no confirmed IOC decision or uniform regulation of international federations under which a country would automatically lose hosting rights because it refused a visa to an individual Russian athlete. Decisions continue to depend on federation rules, contracts with organisers, national legislation and the host country's visa regime. Therefore, sporting bans in some disciplines are weakening, while travel obstacles may remain.
Zagreb showed how sporting return and visa policy can diverge
The most visible example in August was the European Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Zagreb. According to the Russian Gymnastics Federation, the Croatian authorities initially refused to issue visas to nine of the 65 members of the Russian delegation. Among the female athletes on the list were Olympic and world champion Angelina Melnikova, Viktoria Listunova and Anna Kalmykova, while the problem also affected part of the men's team and coaching staff. Interfax reported on 7 August the Russian federation's claim that the justification for the rejected applications stated that the purpose and conditions of the planned stay had not been sufficiently substantiated, while other delegation members with comparable documentation received visas. The Russian federation publicly criticised the decision, but Croatian institutions have the authority to decide on individual applications in accordance with Schengen rules and national procedures.
The situation subsequently changed in part. European Gymnastics announced on 10 August that, following continuous discussions with the Croatian government and the Croatian Gymnastics Federation, the majority of the Russian delegation had received visas in time to travel to Zagreb. According to reports from that period, Melnikova, Kalmykova, Leila Vasileva and Aleksei Usachev subsequently received visas, while the decision concerning the remaining five members of the delegation was not changed. Viktoria Listunova remained among those who did not receive a visa. The case therefore showed that formal permission from a sports federation to compete does not automatically guarantee the possibility of entering the country in which the competition is held.
For Melnikova, the change in the decision had a direct sporting effect. According to the official results of European Gymnastics, on 13 August she won the European all-around title under the WG2 designation, and two days later gold in vault as well as bronze medals on balance beam and floor exercise. Kalmykova finished second in the all-around. The results demonstrated how much a visa decision can affect the composition and outcome of a major competition.
Russian gymnasts competed in Zagreb without national symbols
The visa dispute was not the only restriction related to the participation of Russian and Belarusian gymnasts in Zagreb. European Gymnastics announced that, based on a decision by the Croatian government and the transitional model of World Gymnastics, Russian and Belarusian flags could not be displayed during the championships, national anthems could not be played, and official country designations could not be used in results, accreditations and television graphics. The designation WG1 was used for Belarusian athletes and WG2 for Russian athletes. Athletes and delegation members were also not permitted to wear official equipment with national symbols or flag colours in a manner that would represent state identification. This regime was specific to the transitional period and to competitions that had been awarded to hosts before the rule change.
World Gymnastics lifted special restrictions for Russian and Belarusian athletes in May 2026, and European Gymnastics subsequently decided to follow that direction. At the extraordinary general assembly on 28 July, a transitional approach was confirmed for previously awarded competitions: if the host country officially restricts national symbols, competitors may participate under the World Gymnastics flag and without national identifiers. At the same time, European Gymnastics maintained its decision not to award competitions to Russia until further notice and not to invite Russian state officials to its events.
The IOC withdrew earlier recommendations in July, but did not remove the powers of states or federations
The most important institutional shift occurred on 7 July 2026, when the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee provisionally lifted the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee. The IOC then announced that the previously recommended conditions of participation for Russian athletes and teams, introduced after the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, were no longer applicable. The decision was made at a time when the qualification period for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games and the 2028 Winter Youth Olympic Games had already begun, and the IOC cited the need for equal access to qualification competitions. However, that decision does not mean that all restrictions in all sports have automatically disappeared.
International federations continue to determine their own rules, while host countries retain the authority to decide on entry into their territory. The IOC also stated that a decision on the use of the Russian flag, anthem, colours and other symbols at the Olympic Games would be made at a later date. The return is therefore multi-layered: the sporting right to compete does not automatically mean the right to enter the host country. These are precisely the kinds of cases that Degtyarev describes as problems being resolved individually.
The IOC's July decision further accelerated changes in individual sports. Some international federations have already restored Russian athletes under ordinary conditions or with national symbols, while others continue to apply their own transitional models or restrictions. Because of these differences, it is not possible to speak of a single global regime for Russian athletes. In practice, their status depends on the sport, age, type of competition, the date on which the event was awarded to the host, federation rules, and the legislation and political decisions of the country to which they are travelling.
Rowers received Dutch visas only a few days before the World Championships
Similar administrative uncertainty also appeared ahead of the World Rowing Championships in Amsterdam. The Russian rowing team was supposed to travel to the Netherlands earlier so that the athletes could adapt to the conditions and prepare their equipment, but visa issuance was delayed. President of the Russian Rowing Federation Aleksei Svirin told Match TV on 20 August that the entire team had ultimately received visas and would travel to Amsterdam during the night of 21 August. According to him, the planned departure had been several days earlier, but the delay nevertheless did not prevent participation. The immediate risk of missing the championships was therefore removed, although the time available for on-site preparation was shortened.
World Rowing states that the 2026 World Championships will be held from 24 to 30 August at the Bosbaan course in Amsterdam. Ahead of the competition, the organisation announced that more than 830 athletes from 64 countries had been entered, with the first races beginning on 24 August. For teams travelling from countries subject to visa requirements, the official championship documents provide the possibility of requesting assistance from the organisers and an invitation letter, but the final issuance of a visa remains under the authority of the host country. The Russian case showed that the problem can be resolved before the beginning of the competition, but also that several days of waiting can disrupt logistics, athletes' adaptation and team planning.
For elite sport, such circumstances are not merely an administrative inconvenience. A later arrival can reduce the time available for recovery, familiarisation with the venue, equipment preparation and training. International federations therefore expect organisers to cooperate regarding accreditations and travel documents, although a sports organisation itself cannot issue a visa or overturn a decision by national authorities.
Schengen rules for Russian citizens remain stricter than before 2022
Additional context is provided by the European visa regime. In September 2022, the Council of the European Union fully suspended the EU-Russia visa facilitation agreement. Since then, Russian citizens have been subject to the general rules of the Visa Code, with stricter scrutiny, more documentation, longer processing times and a more restrictive approach to multiple-entry visas. The European Commission at the time recommended that member states carry out enhanced security checks on Russian applicants. This does not constitute a general ban on entry for all Russian athletes, but it means that their visa situation in the Schengen area differs from the period before the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Croatia has been part of the Schengen area since 2023, so short-stay entry visas are processed within the Schengen system. Official Croatian consular information states that Russian citizens holding ordinary passports require a visa. At the same time, organisational documents for the European Championships in Zagreb instructed delegations to check visa requirements in good time and provided for the possibility of issuing official invitation letters to delegation members. However, an organiser's invitation is not equivalent to visa approval: the final decision belongs to the competent state authorities and is made for each applicant individually.
This distinction explains why the return of Russian athletes to international federations does not remove all obstacles. A sports body may permit participation, but it cannot itself change a state's decision on entry. Federations may nevertheless require stronger guarantees when awarding future hosting rights that qualified participants will be able to obtain the necessary travel documents in time. Whether this will be applied to Russian athletes will depend on the rules of each federation and the host countries.
Degtyarev's announcement about removing hosting rights remains a political assessment for now
Degtyarev believes that pressure from international federations on hosts could increase as Russian athletes return to a growing number of competitions. According to his assessment, federations will not want in the long term to organise events in countries where the entry of some qualified athletes becomes the subject of prolonged disputes. Such an argument has practical logic because organisers of major championships seek to ensure the participation of the best competitors, a stable schedule and equal access rules. Nevertheless, his claim that in approximately one year competitions will begin to be relocated or not awarded to countries that take a more restrictive stance towards Russia remains a prediction by the Russian minister, not a confirmed international policy.
In Zagreb, European Gymnastics did not remove Croatia's hosting rights; it held discussions with the Croatian authorities and the national federation, after which the majority of the Russian delegation received visas. In Amsterdam, the problem was resolved before the start of the World Championships, also without a change of host. For now, these two examples point to negotiations and individual interventions rather than automatic sanctions against organising countries.
Return to competitions does not mean a return to the pre-war situation
By 23 August 2026, it is possible to speak of a clear trend towards expanding Russian athletes' access to international competitions, particularly after the IOC's July decision and a series of subsequent moves by sports federations. Nevertheless, the return is neither complete nor uniform. In some disciplines Russians are again competing with national symbols, in others transitional designations and restrictions remain in force, while in certain sports or competitions access still depends on special decisions. In addition, there remains the separate problem of travel to countries that apply stricter visa and security procedures to Russian citizens.
Zagreb and Amsterdam are therefore important examples of a new phase in international sport: the dispute is no longer necessarily only about whether Russian athletes are allowed to be on the start list, but also whether they can physically reach the competition venue under conditions determined by the host country. In Zagreb, some of the initially rejected applications were subsequently approved, but not all; in the case of the rowers, Dutch visas were issued only a few days before the first race. Degtyarev expects such situations to gradually disappear and international federations to increase pressure on organisers. For now, however, the available decisions of the IOC and international federations do not confirm a general rule under which hosting rights would automatically be removed from countries because of visa disputes involving Russian athletes.
Sources:
- RBC – statement by Mikhail Degtyarev on the estimated duration of visa problems and a possible future approach by international federations (link)
- International Olympic Committee – decision of 7 July 2026 on provisionally lifting the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee and ending the application of earlier recommendations on participation (link)
- European Gymnastics – official clarification of the conditions for the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes in Zagreb and information that the majority of the Russian delegation received visas (link)
- European Gymnastics – extraordinary general assembly decisions on the return of Russian and Belarusian athletes and the transitional regime for previously awarded competitions (link)
- European Gymnastics – official results and reports on Angelina Melnikova's performance at the European Championships in Zagreb (link)
- Interfax – information from the Russian Gymnastics Federation about the initially rejected Croatian visas for nine delegation members (link)
- Sportbox / Match TV – statement by Aleksei Svirin that the Russian rowing team received Dutch visas after a delay (link)
- World Rowing – official information on the World Championships in Amsterdam from 24 to 30 August 2026 (link)
- Council of the European Union – decision on the full suspension of the EU-Russia visa facilitation agreement (link)
- Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Croatia – official information on Schengen visas and the application procedure (link)