World Aquatics Approves New Guidelines For Athlete Participation During Periods of Conflict

Yesterday at 03:24 PM

By James Sutherland on SwimSwam

World Aquatics has approved a new set of guidelines that dictate when athletes can participate in sanctioned events while their home nation is in a “period of conflict.”

The guidelines, which were proposed early last month, came into effect on Nov. 18. The policy was introduced "in response to the various wars, hostilities and other conflicts worldwide (each, a “conflict”) with the objectives of ensuring the integrity and security of sporting competitions and the overall respect for Athletes, World Aquatics and Olympic principles and values.”

The proposed policy affects any athlete from a "nation in conflict"—which is determined solely by the World Aquatics Executive—who wishes to participate in any World Aquatics event. Along with athletes, support personnel, event hosts and organizers are also subject to the criteria laid out in the proposal, which places a ban on holding events in states determined to be "nations in conflict."

In order to participate, athletes and support personnel need to follow a strict set of criteria, specifically:

• No Contracts with Security or Military Agencies – Athletes must not have voluntary contractual relationships with:
  • National security agencies.
  • Entities or military organizations associated with governments involved in conflicts.
  • Exception: Contracts with sports clubs funded by military or police budgets are allowed.

• No Support for Conflicts – Athletes are prohibited from supporting conflicts, including:
  • Verbal or non-verbal expressions (explicit or implicit).
  • Public statements (e.g., on social media, liking pro-war posts).
  • Participation in pro-conflict or pro-war events or demonstrations.
  • Wearing symbols reasonably interpreted as supporting conflicts.

• Neutral Athlete and Anti-Doping Compliance
  • Athletes must adhere to requirements outlined for “Neutral Athletes”
  • Comply with Anti-Doping regulations.

There are specific guidelines for the display and use of national flags, anthems and uniforms, interactions with the media, and there are also restrictions dictating that government officials from nations in conflict can’t be invited to events, and as you’d expect, nations in conflict cannot host events. Read more here.

The document concludes by stating that currently, Russia and Belarus are the only nations in conflict. Despite not specifically stating whether or not a nation needs to be the “aggressor” in a conflict, Ukraine is not listed.

You can find the full document here.

You can also find the current list of approved neutral athletes here.

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