Finland and Norway close the door: Russian neutrals could miss 11 of 29 World Cup races

Finland and Norway both decided on Thursday, 12 November, to keep Russian athletes out of their competitions for as long as the war in Ukraine goes on, including those FIS has cleared to race as neutrals. The two countries host five of the twelve World Cup venues this winter. For the Russian skiers who spent October and November waiting for FIS to clear them, the question is no longer whether they may race, but where they can get in.

What Finland decided

Finland’s government amended the decision in principle on Russian entry that it adopted in July 2023. Until now, professional athletes got visas under an exception for short-term work of up to 90 days. From Monday, 16 November, such visas will be granted only for work that is essential to Finland’s national interests, such as security of supply. The foreign ministry’s statement says in so many words that this covers athletes competing under neutral status. “As long as Russia’s war of aggression continues, Russian athletes have no business in Finland,” said foreign minister Elina Valtonen.

The rule goes further than Finnish media had expected two days earlier. Visas already issued will not be revoked, and Valtonen said whether an athlete already holds a visa will be decisive, Meduza reported. But the statement also says the restrictions apply “regardless of the country from which a Russian citizen is travelling”, and that a Russian staying in Finland on a Schengen visa issued by another member state can be refused entry or stay if the trip goes against Finland’s national restrictions. The Border Guard decides at entry, and the police can check stays afterwards.

That matters because the Russians racing in Finland do not hold Finnish visas. Marleena Valtasola, executive director of the Finnish Ski Association, told Yle that the federation sent them no visa invitations and that they came in on Schengen visas from other countries, Italy for example. Until Thursday, that route looked safe. Now it depends on how the authorities apply the new line. Valtonen herself pointed to the gap: inside the Schengen area there are normally no border checks, so Finnish officials can only apply the rule “if a border check happens at all”, she said at Thursday’s press conference.

Valtasola welcomed the decision but told Yle it raised many questions, among them what happens to athletes who are already in the country on another state’s Schengen visa. The federation is meeting the foreign ministry on Friday. “There is still a lot of work ahead before we know what today’s decision means in practice,” she said.

Norway goes further

Norway’s announcement came later the same day. The justice ministry will instruct the immigration directorate (UDI) and the police directorate to turn away Russian and Belarusian professional athletes, and the staff travelling with them, if they come to Norway to take part in competitions, the government said. The rule takes effect “shortly”; no date has been given.

Two differences stand out. Norway’s rule names Belarusians as well, and FIS has cleared 24 Belarusian cross-country skiers. Finland’s statement speaks only of Russian citizens. And Norway targets the purpose of the trip rather than the visa: a valid Schengen visa from another country will not help a skier who arrives to race. Until now, UDI had treated a sports event as a valid reason for a visa and said neutral status played no part in that.

The calendar arithmetic

Neutral athletes may start only in individual races, so the team sprint in Davos and the mixed relay in the Engadin are closed to them anyway. That leaves 29 individual World Cup races for men and 29 for women. Eleven of them are in Finland or Norway:

• Ruka (FIN), 27–29 Nov: 10 km classic, classic sprint, 20 km free mass start
• Trondheim (NOR), 4–6 Dec: 10 km classic, free sprint, 20 km skiathlon
• Lahti (FIN), 12–14 Feb: classic sprint, 20 km skiathlon, 10 km classic
• Oslo Holmenkollen (NOR), 13–14 Mar: 50 km classic mass start
• Drammen (NOR), 16 Mar: classic sprint

Sweden hosts three more at the Ulricehamn finals, as well as the World Championships in Falun. Its migration minister has said the government is analysing whether it has legal grounds to refuse visas, and Stockholm asked the EU in October to tighten visa rules for Russian sports representatives. If Sweden follows, 14 of the 29 races, almost half, and the season’s championship would be out of reach. The Tour de Ski in France, Germany and Italy, plus Davos, the Engadin and Toblach, would remain.

Missing more than a third of the season decides one thing early: no Russian neutral can realistically challenge for an overall Crystal Globe. The fight for single races, and for FIS points that keep them in the World Cup start lists, would move to central Europe.

Ruka keeps its World Cup status

FIS rules allow it to strip an event of World Cup status if athletes it has cleared are stopped from taking part. Martti Uusitalo, a FIS vice-president who also works for the Finnish association, told Yle Sporten before the decision that he saw no way FIS would do that to Ruka if the authorities acted. After Poland said on Wednesday that it would refuse visas to Russian ski jumpers, FIS told Reuters that host countries set their own entry rules and that it “bears no responsibility for denial of visas or entry” to athletes it has admitted.

Dmitry Svishchev, the Russian federation’s president, accepted that point in his own way. “As it turns out, the main thing now is not even getting neutral status and admission to competitions, but getting a visa,” he told Sports.ru. He said he expected athletes already in Finland to be able to race, while those with visa applications still pending were “another question”.

This weekend in Muonio

The new Finnish rule does not cover the season opener in Olos/Muonio, which starts with a classic sprint on Friday and runs before the 16 November start date. Natalia Terenteva, Dariya Nepryaeva, Savelii Korostelev and Sergey Volkov are entered. Whether they, or anyone Russia names for Ruka, can still be in Finland two weeks later is now a question for the Border Guard, not for FIS.

Update, 14 November 2026: Finland’s foreign ministry told sports federations on 13 November that from Monday only a visa issued by Finland will let a Russian athlete in; Schengen visas from other countries will not. Russians already in Finland will be assessed case by case. Sweden says it is preparing a way to stop Russian athletes at the border before Falun. Our analysis.