The Long Game: How Russia Walked Back Into World Sport
Russia's back competing in swimming, judo, fencing, the Paralympic Games and more. The Sports and Crime Briefing looks at how this return was inevitable.
On April 13, World Aquatics Bureau announced that Russian and Belarusian athletes would compete in swimming, diving, artistic swimming and water polo under their national flags, anthems and uniforms with immediate effect.
The decision lifts all restrictions on Belarusian or Russian athletes, except for standard anti-doping controls and background checks. World Aquatics President Husain Al Musallam said that “pools and open water remain places where athletes from all nations can come together in peaceful competition.”
The timing was inconvenient. Ukraine was supposed to face Russia in a Water Polo World Cup Division 2 seventh-place match the same day in Malta.
The Ukrainian water polo team refused to play in protest, resulting in a 5-0 default win for Russia.
The World Aquatics decision provoked immediate outrage from Ukrainian athletes, but it was not a surprise.
Russia’s gradual reinstatement into world sport is the logical terminus of a process running since at least the autumn of 20…
