World Aquatics relaxed the rules for Russian and Belarusian athletes: return with flags, anthems and additional anti-doping conditions
World Aquatics has changed the participation rules for senior athletes with Russian and Belarusian sporting nationality, opening the way for their appearance at international aquatic sports competitions under the same basic conditions as athletes from other countries. According to the announcement by the governing body for aquatic sports, the decision was made after consultations with the Aquatics Integrity Unit, known by the abbreviation AQIU, and with the World Aquatics Athletes' Committee. This means that senior athletes from Russia and Belarus will no longer be subject to the guidelines on participation during periods of political conflict, which were introduced after Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The organization stated that these athletes will be able to compete with national symbols, including uniforms, flags and anthems, but only after they meet additional conditions related to the integrity of competition. The most important condition concerns at least four consecutively successful anti-doping tests conducted in cooperation with the International Testing Agency, with completed background checks carried out by AQIU.
The decision applies to senior aquatic sports competitions
According to World Aquatics' statement of April 13, 2026, the change applies to senior athletes with Russian or Belarusian sporting nationality who compete in disciplines under the authority of that organization. World Aquatics governs international competitions in swimming, diving, artistic swimming, water polo, open water swimming and other aquatic disciplines. In practice, the decision does not mean the automatic participation of every individual athlete in every competition, but removes the previous framework under which Russian and Belarusian athletes had to compete as neutral individuals or under additional restrictions related to national symbols. The organization emphasized that the rule change does not abolish the obligation to comply with anti-doping rules, security assessments and integrity checks. That is precisely why the decision specifically states that the right to compete is acquired only after four consecutively successful anti-doping tests and after the completion of checks led by AQIU.
World Aquatics announced that senior athletes from Russia and Belarus will in future be able to compete in its competitions "in the same way" as athletes of other sporting nationalities. The statement explicitly mentions uniforms, flags and anthems, which marks a significant difference compared with the previous practice of neutral status. This change is important because national symbols in international sport are not merely a protocol detail, but also a politically sensitive issue since the beginning of the war in Ukraine. After February 2022, numerous international federations, following the recommendations of the International Olympic Committee or their own decisions, introduced bans, suspensions or neutral statuses for Russian and Belarusian athletes. World Aquatics is now among the organizations that have taken one of the most visible steps toward normalizing the participation of those athletes in senior competition.
Four consecutive tests and background checks
The key protective mechanism in the new rules concerns anti-doping oversight. World Aquatics states that Russian and Belarusian athletes will be able to compete only after successfully passing at least four consecutive anti-doping tests conducted in cooperation with the International Testing Agency. The ITA is an independent organization that conducts testing programs and manages anti-doping procedures on behalf of several sports bodies. In the case of aquatic sports, World Aquatics' anti-doping program is supervised through a system in which the Aquatics Integrity Unit has an important role. In this way, the decision attempts to be presented as a combination of athlete reintegration and the preservation of the credibility of competition.
In addition to testing, World Aquatics also stated the obligation of background checks led by AQIU. The details of those checks were not elaborated in the announcement itself, but previous regimes for athletes from Russia and Belarus in international sport often included assessments of public support for the war, links with military or security structures and compliance with neutrality rules. In the new decision, the emphasis is less on neutral status and more on safe and fair competition. This does not remove the possibility of individual assessments, especially if organizers, AQIU or other competent institutions determine circumstances that may affect the integrity of competition. For athletes, this means that a formal return under national symbols will not be based only on citizenship or sporting nationality, but also on the fulfillment of specific procedural conditions.
From neutral individuals to the return of full symbols
The path toward this decision lasted more than three years. After Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russian and Belarusian athletes were excluded from many international sports competitions or strict restrictions were imposed on them. In 2023, World Aquatics approved the limited participation of neutral individual athletes under strict criteria. At that time, according to the organization's rules, neutral athletes could compete only in disciplines in which the result is achieved by an individual, and the number of athletes per competitive discipline was limited. This attempted to find a solution between the athletes' right to compete and the political and security consequences of the war in Ukraine.
World Aquatics stated in its more recent announcement that during the period of application of those guidelines, more than 700 checks were carried out on athletes with Russian or Belarusian sporting nationality. The organization claims that these measures helped keep political conflict outside sports arenas. World Aquatics President Husain Al Musallam said that pools and open waters should remain places where athletes from all countries gather in peaceful competition. Such wording shows how the governing organization wants to present the rule change as a continuation of control and stabilization, and not as a complete erasure of the consequences of previous decisions. Still, allowing flags and anthems objectively represents a major turn compared with the period of neutral status.
The broader Olympic context and different approaches by international federations
World Aquatics' decision comes in a period in which the international sports system is gradually moving away from a unified approach toward Russia and Belarus. In 2023, the International Olympic Committee recommended the return of some Russian and Belarusian athletes only as individual neutral athletes, without national symbols, on the condition that they do not support the war and that they are not connected with military or security structures. However, some federations kept stricter bans, while others had already begun allowing appearances under certain conditions. Because of this, the sports calendar became uneven: the same athlete in one discipline or under one federation may have a different status than in another competitive system.
On May 7, 2026, the International Olympic Committee announced that it no longer recommends restrictions for Belarusian athletes, including teams, in competitions under the authority of international federations and sports event organizers. The IOC distinguished the position of Belarus from the position of the Russian Olympic Committee, which remained under suspension. This difference further shows that international sport no longer has a single line toward the two countries that had been covered by a similar restriction regime since 2022. World Aquatics' decision, made before that latest IOC announcement on Belarus, goes one step further than the earlier neutral model because it restores to Russian and Belarusian athletes in senior aquatic sports the possibility of competing with national symbols, subject to special testing and checking conditions.
Reactions show how politically sensitive the decision is
The rule change prompted divided reactions. According to reports by international media and agencies, Ukrainian sports officials condemned the decision, stressing that the return of national symbols of a country waging war against Ukraine sends the wrong message to the sports world. Australia's ABC, citing agency information, carried a statement by Ukrainian Minister of Youth and Sports Matvii Bidnyi, who described the decision as a warning to the sports community and linked it to the circumstances in which Ukrainian athletes train and compete during the war. In the same context, the case of the Ukrainian men's water polo team was also recorded, which in April 2026 refused to start a World Cup match against a team of Russian athletes in Malta, after which the match was registered with an official result in favor of the opponent.
On the other hand, Russian sports officials welcomed the decision as a step toward restoring sports ties. According to ABC's report, Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev thanked the president of World Aquatics for his position and assessed that international sports dialogue enables the gradual restoration of relations. Such reactions confirm that the decision is not perceived only as a technical change to the rulebook, but also as a symbolic event in the broader process of returning Russian and Belarusian sport to international frameworks. Precisely because of this, World Aquatics' wording about "peaceful competition" is unlikely to remove criticism from those who believe that sport cannot be separated from the wartime context and state propaganda.
The anti-doping system remains at the center of the decision's credibility
The additional anti-doping conditions are also important because of the history of Russian doping, which burdened international sport for years. Although World Aquatics' decision was not presented as a solution to doping issues, but as a change to guidelines for a period of political conflict, the condition of four consecutive tests clearly shows that the organization wants to prevent the impression of an uncontrolled return. In March 2026, AQIU published data for the fourth quarter of 2025, according to which the International Testing Agency collected 684 samples from 360 athletes from 71 sporting nationalities during that period. In the third quarter of 2025, when the World Aquatics Championships were held in Singapore, 1,403 samples were collected from 894 athletes from 104 sporting nationalities. These data show the scale of the global testing program to which World Aquatics refers when speaking about protecting the integrity of competition.
For athletes from Russia and Belarus, that system will now have a dual function. On the one hand, it is a condition for formal return to competitions under national symbols. On the other hand, it will serve as the organization's main argument in the event of criticism that the return is premature or insufficiently controlled. In practice, the testing schedule, the availability of athletes in registered testing pools, transparency of announcements and consistency in the application of rules to all competitions will be important. If testing is carried out selectively or without a clear explanation, the decision could further increase distrust. If, however, the conditions are applied consistently, World Aquatics will claim that it has found a balance between the rights of individuals to compete and the protection of fairness in sport.
Russia and Belarus regain full membership rights
Along with the change in athletes' status, World Aquatics announced that Russia and Belarus again exercise full membership rights under Article 6 of the World Aquatics Constitution. This provision is important because it does not relate only to individual athletes, but also to the position of national federations within the international organization. Full membership rights may include participation in institutional work, representative processes and other forms of activity within the federation, depending on the organization's rules and individual procedures. This expands the decision beyond the question of who may jump into the pool, appear in a water polo match or swim a final race. It also affects the relationship of the international federation toward the national sports structures of the two countries.
Such a move could also have consequences for future qualification cycles, especially ahead of the Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028. World Aquatics competitions have great importance for rankings, meeting standards and the international visibility of athletes. If Russian and Belarusian athletes are able to compete with national symbols in aquatic sports, pressure on other federations could increase, although every international federation retains the right to make its own decisions. This will be particularly important in sports in which qualifications begin to be held well before the Games themselves. At the same time, for competition organizers, the issue of security, protocols, possible boycotts and relations with Ukrainian athletes remains.
The decision opens a new period, but does not close the dispute
World Aquatics formally presented the decision as an administrative amendment to guidelines, made after consultations with institutions responsible for integrity and with athlete representatives. However, its effect will be significantly broader than a status change in the rulebook. The return of Russian and Belarusian athletes with national symbols reopens questions about the boundary between sport and politics, the responsibility of international federations and the position of athletes who are not personally responsible for the decisions of their governments. At the same time, reactions from Ukraine show that every decision to restore flags and anthems will be viewed through the wartime context, and not only through the principles of sporting competition.
For World Aquatics, the more demanding part of implementation now follows. The organization will have to show that the condition of at least four consecutive anti-doping tests and AQIU checks is applied clearly, equally and verifiably. It will also have to deal with possible political consequences at competitions, including protests, boycotts or demands for additional explanations. The decision therefore does not end the debate about Russian and Belarusian sport, but moves it into a new phase: from the question of whether athletes may return to international competitions to the question of under what conditions, with which symbols and with what responsibility of international sports institutions.
Sources:
- World Aquatics – official statement on the amendment of guidelines for the participation of athletes with Russian and Belarusian sporting nationality (link)
- World Aquatics – 2023 statement on the participation of neutral individual athletes under strict criteria (link)
- World Aquatics / Aquatics Integrity Unit – data on anti-doping testing for the fourth quarter of 2025 (link)
- International Olympic Committee – official announcement on ending recommended restrictions for Belarusian athletes (link)
- ABC News / AP – report on reactions to the World Aquatics decision and the broader Olympic context (link)