Pro-Putin swimmer Evgeny Rylov competes while serving ban; FINA orders probe

FINA investigates Russian swimmer Evgeny Rylov competing in national championships despite being banned for attending a rally in support of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

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In what appears to be a brazen violation of FINA, Russia's Olympic gold medallist Evgeny Rylov competed at the national championships while serving a ban imposed by swimming's world governing body for attending a rally in support of Moscow's invasion of Ukraine.

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The 25-year-old, who clinched gold in 100 and 200 metres backstroke events at last year's Tokyo Olympics, was among eight athletes identified at the previous month's pro-war rally at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow who sported the letter 'Z' on his outfit.

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The 'Z", a letter that does not exist in the Cyrillic Russian alphabet, has been seen daubed on Russian tanks and vehicles in Ukraine and has come to symbolise support for the invasion. Russian gymnast Ivan Kuliak also stirred a massive public outrage last month after sporting a pro-war 'Z' symbol on his shirt while sharing the podium with Ukrainian rival Illia Kovtun, the gold medallist at the Gymnastics World Cup event in Doha. Read more

Last week, FINA suspended Rylov for nine months for attending the pro-war rally. A brief statement from swimming's world governing body, FINA, stated it "acknowledged" an earlier, as-yet-unpublished ruling from a disciplinary panel to ban the Russian swimmer "following Rylov's attendance and conduct at an event held at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow."

Rylov's ban began on Wednesday and covered any international competition. The effect on the swimmer is likely to be mostly symbolic since FINA also extended its decision to exclude competitors from Russia and its ally Belarus from all international events for the remainder of 2022.

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Following the ban, the Kremlin condemned the nine-month suspension. "We believe this is absolutely contrary to the ideas of sport," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said. "When the strongest (competitors) lose the opportunity to participate, this ultimately harms international federations and international competitions," he added.