Sospensione di Russia e Bielorussia dalle gare

nonché da qualsiasi sostegno a un'operazione speciale sull'Ucraina

AD HOC RULES - CONDITIONS OF PARTICIPATION FOR INDIVIDUAL NEUTRAL ATHLETES/GYMNASTS OF RUSSIAN AND BELARUSIAN SPORTING NATIONALITY AND THEIR SUPPORT PERSONNEL

Preamble
Pursuant to the recommendations issued by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on 28 March 2023 in response to Russia’s military conflict in Ukraine, based on Article 13.3 of the FIG Statutes, the FIG enacts the following conditions for the participation of gymnasts/athletes of Russian and Belarusian sporting nationality and their support personnel in FIG sanctioned events listed on FIG Calendar.

Participation
Gymnasts/athletes of Russian and Belarusian sporting nationality and their support personnel may return to FIG sanctioned events listed on FIG Calendar from 1st January 2024 only in an individual neutral capacity, and not in any way as a representative of the Russian Federation or the Republic of Belarus, or any other organisation in their country, including their National Olympic Committee (NOC) or National Federation (NF).
A gymnast/athlete participating in FIG sanctioned events under the previous paragraph is considered as an Individual Neutral Athlete.
With regard to the support personnel, only the following functions which are essential to the participation of Individual Neutral Athletes may be granted accreditation in accordance with the FIG Accreditation Rules:
- Head of delegation
- Coach
- Medical doctor
- Physiotherapist
Russian or Belarusian government or state officials cannot be invited to or accredited for any FIG sanctioned event or in the support personnel roles noted above.

The FIG assumes no responsibility and cannot be held accountable for any actions or requirements imposed by any government, governmental body, or other external entity that may impede an Individual Neutral Athlete or officials from obtaining any required visas, clearances, waivers, documentation or any other prerequisites to participate in a recognised jurisdictional region. Under no circumstances shall the validity of a competition be challenged if a Neutral Individual Athlete is unable to participate in a FIG sanctioned event due to the aforementioned reasons.


National teams
The participation of national teams composed of gymnasts/athletes of Russian or Belarusian sporting nationality is not permitted in FIG sanctioned events.
Only gymnasts/athletes competing in an individual capacity will be allowed to participate in FIG sanctioned events. Russian and Belarusian gymnasts/athletes cannot participate in a category or a ranking involving more than one individual. In other words, two or more athletes performing together to obtain one single score won’t be considered as individuals and won’t be allowed to participate in such a category.

Neutrality Criteria
Only those lndividual Neutral Athletes and support personnel who have not acted against the peace mission of the Olympic Movement by actively supporting the military conflict in Ukraine may be invited to participate in FIG sanctioned events.

Neutrality will be evaluated through the following criteria:
1) No link with the Russian or Belarusian military or with any other national security agency Gymnasts/athletes and support personnel who are or become contracted or are or become in any way connected to the Russian or Belarusian military, including any affiliated entities, or with national security agencies since the beginning of the conflict (24 February 2022) cannot participate in FIG sanctioned events.
2) No communication associated with Russia or Belarus Gymnasts/athletes and support personnel must refrain from any activity or communication, either verbal, non-verbal or written, associated with the national flag, anthem, emblem or any other symbol of the Russian Federation, the Republic of Belarus, their NFs or NOCs, or from any support for the military conflict in Ukraine in any official venue or in the media (including interviews, social media, retweets and reposted messages on Twitter, forwarded messages, etc.) at any time since the beginning of the military aggression in Ukraine by the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus.
Gymnasts/athletes and support personnel must not make any public statements or comments or take any action or behave in any way that may prejudice the interests of the competition, its integrity or the participant's neutrality required as a condition for participation.
3) No support for the military conflict in Ukraine. Only gymnasts/athletes and support personnel who have not supported nor are supporting the military conflict in Ukraine may participate in FIG sanctioned events.

Gymnasts/athletes and support personnel employed by or contracted to the Russian and Belarusian military or national security agencies are considered as supporting the military conflict.
Any other form of verbal, non-verbal or written expression, explicit or implicit, at any time since the beginning of the military conflict in Ukraine, in particular public statements, including those made in social media, participation in pro- military conflict demonstrations or events, and the wearing of any symbol in support of the military conflict in Ukraine, for example the "Z" symbol, are considered to be acts of support for the military conflict in Ukraine.

Application for status of Individual Neutral Athlete
Gymnasts/athletes shall apply to the FIG to be granted the status of Individual Neutral Athlete. The detailed process will be provided to the NFs concerned.
A gymnast/athlete shall only be entitled to compete in FIG sanctioned events further to the issuance of such confirmation by the FIG.
The application must be submitted in English using the designated form.
The application must be submitted at least sixty (60) days before the definitive registration deadline for the event for which eligibility is sought.

The FIG will apply a fee for the processing of the application. The applicant must arrange prior to submitting his/her application for payment of the applicable application fee. As soon as the FIG receives an application, an invoice will be established and sent to the applicant. The processing of the application shall be suspended until payment of the application fee (amount duly received on the FIG bank account).
Applications which do not fully observe the above specific conditions shall be deemed as non-existent and as not being filed in due time unless they are duly completed or corrected within the definitive registration deadline or within a short additional deadline granted at the discretion of the FIG.

Upon receipt of the application form and the accompanied documents, the FIG shall carry out verifications to ensure the compliance with the applicable requirements for such status of Individual Neutral Athlete, in particular those related to neutrality as set out above with the assistance of an independent international agency if needed.
In principle, the FIG will determine the eligibility of athletes/gymnasts within a deadline of thirty (30) days. Under exceptional circumstances, this deadline may be extended.

In light of the Neutrality criteria listed above and the results of the investigation, the FIG Executive Committee has delegated its power to consider and determine application for eligibility to a specific ad-hoc committee that shall decide on granting or not the status of Individual Neutral Athlete.

The FIG shall publish the list of gymnasts/athletes to whom the status of Individual Neutral Athlete has been granted. If, after granting the status of Individual Neutral Athlete, the FIG becomes aware of any breach of the eligibility rules or conditions of participation, the FIG shall withdraw the status of Individual Neutral Athlete and delete the gymnast/athlete’s name from the published list. The same process as for Individual Neutral Athletes shall apply mutatis mutandis for their support personnel and the judges.

Application fee
All costs related to neutrality investigations and determination will be borne by the applicant for status of Individual Neutral Athlete (Gymnast/athlete, support personnel, judges etc.) and/or by his/her respective NF.
All costs related to the specific doping controls procedures to be implemented shall be borne by the gymnast/athlete.
The application fee includes administrative costs (investigation, ad-hoc committee review) and doping control costs when applicable.

Notification and appeals
The decision will be communicated by the FIG to the national federation to be forwarded to the athlete/gymnast concerned.
Notice of the decision to the national federation shall be deemed to be notice to the athlete concerned.
The decision becomes immediately enforceable.
The decision of the ad-hoc committee on any application based on these ad-hoc rules will be exclusively subject to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in accordance with the CAS Code of Sports-related arbitration. Only the concerned NF may file an appeal within ten (10) days after the receipt of the decision. The appeal does not stay the decision of the FIG. Unless the parties agree otherwise, the case will be referred to a sole arbitrator in accelerated proceedings.
Unless otherwise determined by FIG, in the event of the dismissal of the appeal by CAS, the NF shall be liable for all the expenses related to the appeal proceedings incurred by FIG (including arbitration costs and legal fees).

Anti-doping requirements
All gymnasts/athletes of Russian or Belarusian sporting nationality must comply with all anti-doping requirements applicable to them, in particular those set out in the FIG Anti-Doping Rules.
At least one (1) test must be conducted by the International Testing Agency (ITA) before a return to competition.

Registration for FIG events
Individual Neutral Athletes to whom such status has been granted pursuant to the process above, and their support personnel, who also have cleared this process, shall register for participation in FIG sanctioned events through their respective NF in accordance with registration rules applicable to the concerned FIG sanctioned event.
The entry process shall be performed as a neutral administrative process. It has the sole purpose of allowing the entry and participation of the Individual Neutral Athletes. Collectively, the Individual Neutral Athletes do not form a delegation representing their respective NF.
If, after confirming a gymnast/athlete’s entry, the FIG becomes aware of a breach of the eligibility rules or conditions of participation, the FIG or the designated Authority on site may refuse or disqualify the gymnast/athlete. A support personnel or a judge may also be excluded from an FIG sanctioned event.

Identification
Gymnasts/athletes must participate in competitions as "lndividual Neutral Athletes" and use "AIN" as the acronym.

Emblem
Should an emblem/logo be required the AIN acronym should be used.

Flag
The flags of the Russian Federation or the Republic of Belarus (current or historical) cannot be flown or displayed in any official venue or area controlled by the FIG and/or the sport event organiser.
Where the use of a flag is necessary to identify the gymnasts/athletes or judges (e.g., at ceremonies, protocol events, on-site, TV/media displays), a flag of a solid light blue colour shall be used for Individual Neutral Athletes.
Each sport event organiser on the FIG sanctioned events shall be responsible for ensuring that no flag of the Russian Federation or the Republic of Belarus, or any other object referring to these countries, is displayed within the scope of, or in relation to, an event, including by spectators.

Anthem
The Russian and Belarusian national anthems (or any anthem linked to the Russian Federation or Republic of Belarus) must not be played or sung at any moment during an event in any official venue or any other area controlled by the FIG and/or the sport event organiser.
A neutral music (to be determined by the FIG) shall be used to represent Individual Neutral Athlete at an official ceremony (opening or closing, protocol, medal ceremony, etc.).

Uniforms
Uniforms (competition, warm-up, formal, ceremonies, casual, etc.), hand apparatus, clothing, equipment, accessories and personal items belonging to lndividual Neutral Athletes and their support personnel that are worn, used and/or otherwise displayed at official venues and any other areas controlled by the FIG or event organiser must not contain:
• any recognition of, or reference, to the Russian Federation, the Republic of Belarus, or their National Federations or NOCs, or any national identification of Russia or Belarus (such as a flag, any combination of national flag colours, coat of arms or any other national symbol or emblem, be it official or unofficial) in any language or format;
• any emblem or identification, commercial or otherwise, of any Russian or Belarusian organisation or entity;
• any expression (message, graphic element, symbol, etc.) with a direct or indirect political connotation.
Any clothing (plus hand apparatus in Rhythmic Gymnastics) used by an Individual Neutral Athlete or his/her support personnel must be submitted to the FIG for approval. Any use of clothing or hand apparatus other than the one(s) approved by the FIG shall result in the gymnast/athlete's refusal to compete or disqualification.

RoutineMusic
When applicable, any routine music used during the FIG Sanctioned event by an Individual Neutral Athlete must be neutral and must not contain:
• any recognition of, or reference, to the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus
• any message or sound with a direct or indirect political connotation
Any routine music used by an Individual Neutral Athlete must be submitted to the FIG for approval. Any use of routine music other than the one approved by the FIG shall result in the gymnast/athlete's refusal to compete or disqualification.

Medals
Individual Neutral Athletes may receive medals for their performances and participate in the relevant award ceremonies. Due to the participation as individuals, these medals shall not count towards any medal table by nations.

Neutrality requirements
lndividual Neutral Athletes and their support personnel must fully respect the FIG statutes and regulations, the Olympic Charter, the World Anti-Doping Code and the FIG conditions of participation on the basis of the IOC Recommended Conditions of Participation.
To adhere to the requirement of neutrality, lndividual Neutral Athletes and their support personnel must refrain from any activity or communication associated with the national flag, anthem, emblem or any other symbol of the Russian Federation, the Republic of Belarus, their NFs or NOCs, or support for the military conflict in Ukraine, at any official venue or in the media (including interviews, social media - retweets, reposting, etc.) prior to, during and following the international sports competition.
This includes any national events related to their participation in the competition.
They must not make any statements or comments, take any action, or conduct themselves in any manner that may be prejudicial to the interests of the competition, its integrity or the participant's neutrality required as a condition of participation.

Enforcement of these Adhoc rules and sanctions
Any violation of these rules by any person or entity bound by the FIG Regulations, may be subject to sanctions.
Any infringement committed within the scope of, or in relation to, an event, in particular with regard to the prohibition of the wearing of emblems or logos referring to Russia or Belarus or any communication, whether verbal, non-verbal or written, in support of the military conflict in Ukraine, shall result in the immediate disqualification, decertification and physical removal of the offending individual by the designated Authority (see above) or by the FIG directly.
Any infringement committed outside an FIG sanctioned event will be subject to disciplinary proceedings according to FIG regulations.
The consequences or sanctions may include but are not limited to:
- ineligibility for as long as these Ad-hoc rules remain in force;
- ineligibility for a period to be served in any event and irrespective of whether or not the Ad-hoc Rules remain in force;
- disqualification of all or part of the results obtained in competitions to which the gymnast/athlete participated on the basis of the Ad-hoc rules;

The FIG must take all necessary measures to ensure the enforcement of these rules.
Any discriminatory behaviour towards a gymnast/athlete of Russian or Belarussian sporting nationality authorized to participate in an FIG sanctioned event under the present Rules shall be subject to disciplinary proceedings according to FIG regulations.

Without prejudice to consequences and sanctions pursuant the present ad-hoc rules, the FIG (through its competition officials) may take any immediate protective measures, including the immediate exclusion of any athlete and/or support personnel, as deemed necessary to preserve and ensure the safety, integrity, and security of the competition.

Judges
Russian and Belarusian passport-holders officiating in FIG sanctioned events as judges should not display or otherwise express an association with their nationality.
Judges shall meet the conditions of neutrality stipulated above in order to be appointed by the FIG to officiate at an FIG sanctioned event.
Judges should be represented by the AIN acronym where necessary.
These ad-hoc rules shall be applicable until further notice and may be amended from time to time by the FIG Executive Committee. The present
version has been approved by the FIG Executive Committee on 12 December 2023, and enters into force immediately.