Lausanne (Switzerland): FINA, the world body of swimming sport, officially announced on Wednesday that all Russian and Belarusian athletes would be banned from the 19th FINA World Championships Budapest 2022. FINA said the decision came after the Bureau met following the conclusion of an independent risk assessment.

FINA had previously resisted implementing a full ban on Russian athletes and instead said it would evaluate participation on a case-by-case basis. FINA in a statement said that further to the FINA Bureau’s decision on 8^th March 2022 and the new measures at its disposal to exclude Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials from FINA competitions, and following the review of an independent risk assessment. The FINA Bureau met today and confirmed that athletes and officials from Russia and Belarus will not take part in the upcoming 19th FINA World Championships Budapest 2022.

The Russian Swimming Federation informed them that all Russian aquatics athletes would withdraw from all FINA events for the rest of 2022 after learning of this decision, said FINA.