– The return of Russian athletes to international competitions is becoming more difficult, says Jelena Vlbe, president of Russian skiing according to GamesTV.

Currently, the committee of the International Federation of Skiing and Boarding (FIS) is holding a committee meeting in Zurich. Although Russian and Belarusian athletes are prohibited from competing, this does not apply to their country’s delegates.

– Yesterday we met with the president of the International Confederation of Ski and Boarding Sports (FIS) in person. Prior to the mobilization and vote, neutral status was considered, but now ruled out, Välbe said in a video postg was shown at a major sports seminar in Russia.

He was referring to the referendum in the occupied Ukrainian territories of Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhya and Kherson. It has been announced that Russian President Vladimir Putin will announce the annexed areas on Friday. At the same time, Putin has announced the partial mobilization of at least 300,000 troops to escalate the war in Ukraine.

– The fact that it took Putin mobilization for FIS president Eliasch to realize the reality of the situation unfortunately doesn’t inspire much credence for international ski moral standards, says NRK sports commentator Jan Petter Saltvedt.

Pointing to the competition

Last week, during the Forum Nordicum conference in Planice, the general secretary of the FIS, Michel Vion, announced that it seemed that Russia would be returning soon. He talks about that it could happen as early as December. Now it seems completely out of the picture:

– The situation makes returns very complicated. But we are optimistic and believe in the best. Everyone had already started counting losses. It is clear that without Russia’s participation, attention to competition would be lower, said Vlbe.

– The FIS president and the entire FIS leadership have clearly resigned with their real hopes of including Russia and Belarus in one form or another in the coming winter competitions. And it was about time, and certainly should have been done a long time ago, Saltvedt points out.

Former Olympic champion Julija Tsepalova threw herself into the debate after being advised by the Norwegian side that they could boycott the World Cup and the World Cup if Russia were caught off guard.

– Norwegians are always like this – they make negative statements, protest and don’t talk about it themselves. “I can say that cross-country skiing, and a sport around the world, could not exist without Russia,” Chepalova told Metaratings.

– give each other a hug

Former cross-country star Aleksandr Legkov also shows Russia’s high level of cross-country skiing.

– Maybe the FIS even wants to see us play now. The question is whether other countries will declare they will not participate if our athletes are allowed to start. Talks may take place in this format, adds Legkov RIA Novostiwho sees no reason to speculate any further before a decision is made on October 22.

The ski president, who was previously politically active for Putin’s party, described the atmosphere at the Zurich meeting as normal and professional.

– Norway wrote that they were going to boycott because of the presence of the Russian delegation at the meeting, but they are here. Everyone was talking and hugging each other, said Vlbe.

Almost all of the Norwegian delegation, except for a few, had already gone home. On Thursday, Clas Brede Bråthen left the committee meeting due to Belarusian participation.