Whilst the sanctions prohibiting international competitions to be held in Russia and Belarus remain in place, the FEI Board has decided to lift protective measures to allow future participation of Russian and Belarusian Athletes, Horses and Officials as neutrals. The conditions and timeline for implementation will be put forward for approval by the FEI Board during a teleconference in December 2023.

The FEI Board discussed the protective measures at length during its in-person meeting on 18 November 2023 in Mexico City, which had been imposed on Russian and Belarusian Athletes, Horses and Officials on 2 March 2022 following the full-scale military invasion of Ukraine.

The Board was updated on the latest position of the International Olympic Committee which had urged International Federations to consider re-admitting Russian and Belarusian Athletes to international competitions under certain conditions and the changed situation among other International Federations. It was noted that since the protective measures had been introduced over 18 months ago, the situation in other sports has changed and Russian and Belarusian individual athletes have gradually resumed participation in international sport as neutrals alongside Ukrainian athletes without significant disruption to the competitions.

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