The board of the International Ski Federation (Fis) will make a decision on Tuesday about the future of Russian and Belarusian skiers, who have not been allowed to compete since the war in Ukraine began in 2022.
Karin Mattsson, board member and former chairman of the Swedish Ski Association and the Swedish Sports Confederation (RF), wants the ban to remain in place over the Olympic Games in February.
I think it's incredibly unfortunate if we were to take a different path now, says Mattsson to Dagens Nyheter.
One is constantly met with the argument that sports and politics do not belong together. Which is actually nonsense. Sports and party politics do not belong together, but sports can never say that we are not part of a society.
The associations decide
The International Olympic Committee (IOK) lets each association decide whether Russian and Belarusian athletes should be allowed to compete under a neutral flag at the Olympic Games in Milano-Cortina.
So far, speed skating and alpine skiing have said yes, while no has come from, among others, curling, ice hockey, and biathlon.
Want to boycott
Swedish ski star Linn Svahn has, in interviews with Expressen and Norwegian TV2 earlier this fall, said that she wants to boycott the Olympic Games if Russians and Belarusians are allowed to participate.
I think it's strong of her, but I wouldn't be able to do it. I train every day to be able to participate (in the Olympic Games), and then I shouldn't let some Russians stop it, says Norwegian skier Lotta Udnes Weng to the news agency NTB.
Norwegian national team manager Eirik Myhr Nossum wants, just like Svahn, to see a continued stop for Russian and Belarusian skiers.
I think it's very problematic to think that we should compete together with them. I don't quite see what has changed compared to a few years ago. Hospitals are still being bombed and civilians are being killed in large numbers. My clear opinion is that they should continue to be excluded, he says.
