The International University Sports Federation –FISU- has modified the eligibility of student-athletes from Russia and Belarus in its competitions, following the recent recommendations of the International Olympic Committee -IOC- and amid the diversity of criteria applied by international federations. The decision seeks to establish a uniform framework for its events and prevent participation in university sport from depending on increasingly divergent federation responses.
The most direct change affects student-athletes with a Belarusian passport, who are reinstated with immediate effect in all FISU events, in line with the IOC decision of 7 May 2026 to stop recommending restrictions on athletes and teams from Belarus. In the Russian case, the situation is more complex: the IOC has not lifted all its restrictions on senior athletes, although it has argued that young athletes should not be held responsible for the actions of their governments, a position that FISU links especially to the university sphere.
A framework of its own for university sport
Until now, FISU had mirrored the position of the relevant international federation in each sport. According to the organisation, that system no longer produces a coherent result, because some federations have lifted restrictions on Russian and Belarusian athletes, others maintain neutrality conditions and others still enforce full bans. The university federation has therefore opted for its own framework in order not to apply different solutions to student-athletes depending on the discipline.
Under the new system, FISU considers the full exclusion of Russian student-athletes on nationality grounds alone to be disproportionate. Neutrality conditions — participation without a flag, national uniform or other symbols — will be the maximum restriction applicable at any FISU event when there is no full reinstatement by the relevant international federation. At the same time, if a federation has already fully readmitted Russian athletes, FISU may mirror that position and allow them to compete under full national conditions.
A decision within a fragmented international landscape
The change comes at a time when several international federations have begun adjusting their criteria on Russia and Belarus. Some have moved towards readmission under national symbols, others have maintained neutrality and others continue to apply broader restrictions. That lack of uniformity explains FISU’s move, as it seeks to adapt its own system to a landscape in which international sport no longer responds with a single formula.
FISU’s case has a specific dimension because it concerns student-athletes. The organisation places the decision within its educational and developmental mission, where access to university competition is not measured only through performance, but also through participation, education and the proportionality of restrictions. Neutrality remains a possible tool, but automatic exclusion on nationality grounds is no longer the starting point.
The educational mission behind the change
The decision also marks a transition from the approach applied in recent university competitions, where Russian and Belarusian athletes had participated under specific neutral formulas. With the new framework, FISU is trying to combine internal coherence, respect for Olympic recommendations and adaptation to each sport’s criteria when full reinstatement exists.
The result will be a flexible system, but with a common basis for upcoming FISU competitions. Belarusian student-athletes regain full eligibility in all events, while Russian athletes will be able to compete under neutrality or, when the relevant international federation allows it, under full national conditions. FISU thus places university sport on its own path within the broader review of Russian and Belarusian participation in international sport.
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