Coe holds line on Russia ban as athletics faces new CAS challenge

Sebastian Coe says World Athletics' ban on athletes from Russia and Belarus will stay in place.

The World Athletics president reiterated the position on Sunday, 13 September 2026, at the World Athletics Ultimate Championship in Budapest. His message was blunt. The position has not changed.

World Athletics has barred athletes from Russia and Belarus from international track and field since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The World Athletics Council reaffirmed that exclusion in July 2026, according to Reuters.

Coe said the stance is not about politics or passports, but about the integrity of competition. That distinction matters to him. He has held the same line since December 2023, when he said Russian track and field athletes remained shut out of Olympic competition.

The Russian Athletics Federation is challenging the ban again. It has filed a new claim with the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the independent court that settles disputes in sport, and says the ongoing sanctions infringe on the organisation's rights and stop it from fully representing Russian athletes internationally, as reported by the BBC.

Coe said he will attend the hearing in person to help present World Athletics' case. That promise drew criticism from Russian Athletics executive director Boris Yaryshevsky in an interview with TASS. Days earlier, the Russian federation had accused Coe of hindering its return to international competition and delaying proceedings linked to that return.

Athletics now stands apart from much of the Olympic movement. The International Olympic Committee provisionally lifted Russia's suspension in July, opening a possible path to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games. World Gymnastics, World Aquatics and World Boxing have removed restrictions on Russian athletes competing.

Some Russian and Belarusian athletes competed as neutrals at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and the Milan Winter Olympics. That means no flag, no anthem and no national colours. No such route exists in track and field.

The history in athletics runs deep. The World Athletics Council fined the Russian federation $10 million for breaching anti-doping rules, then agreed to reinstate it in March 2023 after seven years of suspension. At its 241st meeting, the Council was presented with options on the separate sanctions imposed over Ukraine and Belarus, but kept the exclusion in place.

For fans picking up this story, this is what it means in practice. No Russian or Belarusian vest on a World Athletics start list. No change until the court rules or the Council votes otherwise.