Russian Ski Association (RSF), Saveliy Korostelev, Lana Prusakova, Maria Travinicheva, Artiom Galunin, Ekatarina Tkachenko, Daniil Sadreev, Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC), Alexey Bugaev, Varvara Voronchikhina, Anastasiia Bagiian, Ivan Golubkov, Polina

At a glance

Parties

Russian Ski Association (RSF), six Russian skiers (Saveliy Korostelev, Lana Prusakova, Maria Travinicheva, Artiom Galunin, Ekaterina Tkachenko, Daniil Sadreev), the Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC) and six Russian para-skiers (Alexey Bugaev, Varvara Voronchikhina, Anastasiia Bagiian, Ivan Golubkov, Polina Novakovskaia, Mikhail Slinkin) v. International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS)

Case no.

CAS 2025/A/11915

Forum and rules

Court of Arbitration for Sport, appeals arbitration under the Code of Sports-related Arbitration (2025 edition), expedited procedure; FIS rules and regulations applied, with Swiss law subsidiarily

Tribunal

André Brantjes (President), Efraim Barak, Benoît Pasquier

Sector

Skiing and snowboarding; Olympic and Paralympic eligibility

Outcome

Appeal partially upheld. The FIS Council decision of 21 October 2025 was partially set aside as discriminatory on grounds of nationality. FIS was ordered to admit the six athletes as Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) and the six para-athletes under the same conditions as other para-athletes (operative part of 11 December 2025; reasoned award of 20 February 2026).

Amount

No damages were claimed. The appellants asked FIS to bear the arbitration costs, reimburse the CHF 1,000 court office fee and contribute to their legal costs. The costs rulings (operative ¶¶ 5–6) are redacted in the published award.

The dispute

Since 1 March 2022 FIS had barred Russian and Belarusian athletes from its competitions after Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and it renewed the ban in later Council meetings. On 21 October 2025 the FIS Council voted "no" by secret ballot to a resolution that would have let athletes from Russia and Belarus take part as Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) in qualification events for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games, under the IOC's AIN criteria. The Russian Ski Association, six skiers, the Russian Paralympic Committee and six para-skiers appealed to CAS. They argued that the decision lacked a statutory basis, discriminated on grounds of nationality contrary to the FIS Statutes, the FIS Universal Code of Ethics, the Olympic Charter and human rights instruments, and breached Swiss personality-rights law, EU competition law and the principle of proportionality. FIS replied that the Council acted within its statutory competence. It said it could not state the reasons behind a secret-ballot vote, and that the IOC and IPC positions did not bind it.

Key holdings

1. The FIS Council was competent to adopt the decision. Article 11.3.3.2 of the FIS Statutes empowers it to establish and amend the FIS rules, including eligibility rules. The decision in effect added a rule restricting eligibility, and the formal requirements (quorum, digital secret ballot) were met. The decision was therefore not null and void. ¶¶ 83–88
2. The appellants bear the burden of showing a prima facie case of discrimination: both the ground of discrimination and the right or privilege denied. They met it. Article 8.2.1.2 of the FIS Statutes gives member associations a conditional right to take part in FIS events. Article 5.2 of the Statutes and Articles 1(4) and 3.5.1 of the FIS Universal Code of Ethics impose a duty not to discriminate, including on nationality. The decision denied participation solely on the basis of Russian nationality, so it was direct and prima facie discriminatory. Intent is irrelevant at this stage. ¶¶ 94–107
3. A decision taken by secret ballot is lawful but not immune from review. FIS remains bound by its duty not to discriminate and could have defended the decision de novo. FIS bore the burden of justification and gave none. It did not rely on safety or integrity of competition, and it did not explain why participation as AIN would not be more proportionate than a blanket ban. The Panel held that it is not required to search the Council minutes for possible grounds. ¶¶ 109–117
4. The decision violates Article 5.2 of the FIS Statutes and is partially set aside. It stands only to the extent that it bars Russian athletes who do not meet the IOC's AIN criteria from FIS events, including the Milano Cortina 2026 qualification events. The Panel did not reach the arguments based on the ECHR and other human rights instruments. ¶¶ 118–119; operative ¶ 2
5. The six athletes asked only to compete as AIN, so FIS must admit them as AIN to all FIS events, provided they meet the IOC's AIN criteria and the eligibility requirements that apply to all athletes. Lifting the ban does not itself give them a place at the Games; they must qualify on sporting merit. ¶¶ 120–122; operative ¶ 3
6. The six para-athletes must be admitted under the same conditions as other para-athletes, without the AIN framework, because the IPC has no AIN regime. FIS's unsupported assertion of safety and security risks was clearly insufficient to justify a blanket ban. ¶¶ 123–126; operative ¶ 4; interpretation of 11 December 2025
7. CAS cannot grant positive relief to unnamed persons who are not parties, so the requests for "all other" Russian athletes, para-athletes, support personnel and officials were dismissed. The Panel nonetheless saw no reason why such persons should not be able to take part, given that the decision was partially set aside. ¶¶ 76–77

Procedural history

1. 1 March 2022The FIS Council unanimously barred Russian and Belarusian athletes from all FIS competitions. The ban was later extended.
2. 21 October 2025The FIS Council voted "no" by secret ballot to allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to take part as AIN in Milano Cortina 2026 qualification events (the challenged decision).
3. 5 November 2025The appellants filed a joint Statement of Appeal with CAS. FIS accepted CAS jurisdiction and an expedited calendar on 7 November 2025.
4. 20 November 2025Panel constituted: André Brantjes (President), Efraim Barak and Benoît Pasquier.
5. 1 December 2025Hearing held by videoconference. No witnesses or experts were heard.
6. 2 December 2025Operative part of the award notified to the parties.
7. 3–8 December 2025FIS requested interpretation. The Deputy President of the CAS Appeals Arbitration Division partially granted the request on 8 December 2025.
8. 11 December 2025New operative part issued with an amended ¶ 2, together with the Panel's interpretation.
9. 20 February 2026Reasoned award issued.

Tribunal, counsel and experts

Decided by

• André Brantjes President — appointed by the institution
• Efraim Barak Co-arbitrator — appointed by the claimant
• Benoît Pasquier Co-arbitrator — appointed by the respondent

For the claimant

Claude Ramoni · Monia Karmass · Ricardo Suescun

For the respondent

FIS (in-house) · David Rundle · Suhail Mayor · Irina Tuca

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Keywords

• Russian athletes
• Individual Neutral Athletes
• AIN
• Milano Cortina 2026
• Winter Olympics
• Paralympic Games
• nationality discrimination
• blanket ban
• eligibility
• secret ballot
• burden of proof
• proportionality
• FIS Statutes Article 5.2
• FIS Universal Code of Ethics
• IPC reinstatement
• exhaustion of internal remedies
• skiing
• de novo review

Summary generated with AI from the published documents — refer to the award for the authoritative text.