LAUSANNE, Switzerland -- Russian skiers and snowboarders won a court ruling on Tuesday to apply as neutral athletes for qualification events to the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics after nearly four years of being excluded during the war on Ukraine.
Russian sports minister Mikhail Degtyaryov posted on social media that an appeal from Russia to the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned a blanket ban imposed by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) within days of the full military invasion in February 2022. FIS renewed the ban in October.
CAS later published its ruling in another legal win for Russian and Belarusian winter sports athletes.
In October, a similar appeal to CAS by the Russian luge federation and athletes ruled against a long-standing blanket ban based on their passports.
Sports bodies have excluded Russians mainly for security reasons to protect athletes and prevent protests that also could disrupt the field of play.
Still, there is little time for FIS to process applications from athletes to be approved with neutral status ahead of a Jan. 18 qualification deadline. The Milan Cortina Winter Olympics begin on Feb. 6.
Neutral status can be approved in most sports, following International Olympic Committee guidance, for athletes who have not publicly supported the military invasion of Ukraine and do not have ties to military or state security agencies.
Russian athletes and team officials also face challenges getting visas to enter some countries that host qualifying events such as on the World Cup circuit in Alpine, cross-country and freestyle skiing, and snowboarding.
FIS runs almost half of the entire Winter Games program - 57 of 116 gold medal events.
CAS said its judges gave an urgent ruling combining separate appeals that Russian and Belarusian athletes who meet eligibility standards set by FIS should be allowed to enter international events.
"Both panels (of judges) found that the FIS statutes protect individuals from discrimination and require the FIS to be politically neutral," the Lausanne-based court said in a statement.
Some Russian and Belarusian athletes competed at the Paris Summer Games last year without their national identity of flag, anthem and team colors. Both countries were banned from team sports.
The IOC must also assess the neutral status of Russian and Belarusian athletes before inviting them to compete at the Milan Cortina Winter Games.
Two Russian figure skaters and one from Belarus were invited to the Olympics by the IOC last week.
Degtyaryov has said he expects as few as 15 Russian athletes to compete at the Winter Games.