Three days after the World Gymnastics decision — and European Gymnastics has already voted. On May 21, the federation's executive committee held an extraordinary online meeting and decided to cancel all restrictions introduced after February 24, 2022. Now athletes from Russia and Belarus will compete at continental events under their own flags and to their own national anthems.
The decision was made three years after those same federations introduced "temporary rules" following the full-scale invasion. As Euromaidan Press reports, the reason these sanctions existed — Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine — has not changed. Neither organization has provided any official explanation for why the rules are being canceled now.
What specifically was decided and where it will happen
According to an official statement from European Gymnastics, the federation "follows the World Gymnastics decision to lift all restrictions on the participation of Russia and Belarus, as the temporary FIG rules are no longer in effect." The executive committee's decision will be ratified at an extraordinary online session of the General Assembly in the near future.
The practical consequence is already concrete and dated. According to Croatian media reports, the European Artistic Gymnastics Championships for men and women will be held in Zagreb in August 2026; the European Rhythmic Gymnastics Championships — in the same location. These competitions will be where Russian and Belarusian athletes will compete under national flags at the continental level for the first time in four years.
Precedent: how neutral status has already shown cracks
The return of national symbols comes against the backdrop of an incident that itself cast doubt on the effectiveness of "neutral status." In April 2026, at a World Cup stage in Bulgaria, Russian gymnast Sofia Ilteryakova, competing under neutral status, stood with her back turned during the performance of Ukraine's national anthem — after Ukrainian athlete Taisiia Onofiychuk took first place. The Federation of Gymnastics of Ukraine, headed by Irina Deryugina, filed a "strong protest" and demanded justice, calling Ilteryakova's behavior "a demonstrative disrespect to the state symbol of Ukraine." The World Gymnastics ad-hoc committee reviewed the incident and on April 14 released a decision — but just a month later, that same organization canceled any restrictions for these same athletes.
Context: not the first or last
European Gymnastics is part of a broader trend. As UNITED24 Media notes, the decision on gymnastics comes in parallel with similar steps by the International Wrestling Federation (UWW) and World Aquatics, which earlier completely restored the rights of Russian and Belarusian athletes. However, the European Aquatics Federation did not follow this path and retained restrictions on senior national teams — which shows there is no unanimity among continental bodies.
"The federation follows the World Gymnastics decision to lift all restrictions on the participation of Russia and Belarus, as the temporary FIG rules are no longer in effect."
Official statement from European Gymnastics, May 21, 2026
The Ukrainian diving and synchronized swimming federations have already called for World Aquatics' decision to be reviewed and sanctions to be restored. No similar public response from the Federation of Gymnastics of Ukraine to European Gymnastics' decision has yet been recorded in official sources.
If the European Gymnastics General Assembly ratifies the executive committee's decision by August — the Zagreb championship will be the first continental competition where the national anthem of a country currently engaged in active combat operations against a fellow federation member state could be played on the podium. The question is not rhetorical: will the "sport above politics" framework hold if even one of the participating nations declares a boycott?
