Russian skier Korostelev explained the absence of his name in the FIS lists

Russian skier Savely Korostelev expects to receive neutral status from the International Ski Federation (FIS) to participate in international tournaments in the 2026/27 season. This was announced on October 4 by the Swedish TV channel SVT.

"I'm 99.9% sure. Maybe it's just a little bureaucratic red tape. They have received many requests for neutral status. Maybe things will go faster after the press finds out about it," Korostelev said.

According to the skier, this year FIS has softened the criteria for Russian athletes, which gives reason to expect approval of applications from other representatives of the national team. Korostelev noted that last season he had already received permission to perform from the international federation.

"Last year I was given the go-ahead, this year I may have been lost. We'll have to wait and see when they publish the next list. I talked to my coach and we decided that everything was fine. Perhaps they have lost my request or haven't seen my letter yet," the athlete added.

At the moment, there has been no official confirmation from the FIS regarding the assignment of the status to Korostelev. The athlete continues to prepare for the season, awaiting an update of the lists of eligible athletes.

Access lane: Russian skiers get a new chance to return to the KM

The FIS has relaxed the criteria for neutral status, but retained a number of serious restrictions.

Earlier, the international organization updated the rules for obtaining neutral status for the 2026/27 season, relaxing the requirements for athletes from Russia and Belarus to communicate with army structures. Against this background, on October 1, FIS granted neutral status to Russian champion Sergey Volkov, as well as skiers Nikita Denisov, Daria Nepryaeva and Ksenia Shorokhova.