The International Shooting Sport Federation has amended its rules regarding Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN), regarding those under the age of 21.
A change has been made to the ISSF Rules for the Participation of Russian and Belarusian Athletes in ISSF Competitions - also known as the ISSF INA Rules - which will now grant neutral status to all affected athletes under the age of 21 who apply, without the requirement of an examination on the applicant's background.
The ISSF would still be allowed to conduct a background check on any of these athletes if knowledge is obtained that may raise concerns that would not allow an AIN status to be granted.
Amendments were proposed due to the cost attached to background examinations, which are carried out by an external specialist agency, with this recommendation coming from the IOC to save International Federations' resources.
These recommendations were made following consultation between the ISSF Ad Hoc Committee and the International Olympic Committee, which were since approved by the ISSF Executive Committee in April and now has been unanimously approved by the ISSF Council.
A new Article 4.5 has been added to the ISSF AIN Rules which states: "Athletes under the age of 21 who apply for INA status are in principle deemed to fulfil the criteria listed in Article 4.4. above. Such applicant athletes will, therefore, receive recognition of the INA status without in-depth examination, unless there are circumstances to the contrary. All other application criteria under this Article 4 remain unaffected and valid."
Criteria that can see INA status rejected includes support for the war in Ukraine - as detailed by the IOC recommendations from March 28th 2023; being contracted to the Russian or Belarusian military or national security, have participated in an event organised by the International Military Sports Council (CISM) since 2015; or have been part of the CSKA or Dynamo shooting sports clubs in Russia or members of the Sports Committee of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus since the invasion of Ukraine started.
A change has been made to the ISSF Rules for the Participation of Russian and Belarusian Athletes in ISSF Competitions - also known as the ISSF INA Rules - which will now grant neutral status to all affected athletes under the age of 21 who apply, without the requirement of an examination on the applicant's background.
The ISSF would still be allowed to conduct a background check on any of these athletes if knowledge is obtained that may raise concerns that would not allow an AIN status to be granted.
Amendments were proposed due to the cost attached to background examinations, which are carried out by an external specialist agency, with this recommendation coming from the IOC to save International Federations' resources.
These recommendations were made following consultation between the ISSF Ad Hoc Committee and the International Olympic Committee, which were since approved by the ISSF Executive Committee in April and now has been unanimously approved by the ISSF Council.
A new Article 4.5 has been added to the ISSF AIN Rules which states: "Athletes under the age of 21 who apply for INA status are in principle deemed to fulfil the criteria listed in Article 4.4. above. Such applicant athletes will, therefore, receive recognition of the INA status without in-depth examination, unless there are circumstances to the contrary. All other application criteria under this Article 4 remain unaffected and valid."
Criteria that can see INA status rejected includes support for the war in Ukraine - as detailed by the IOC recommendations from March 28th 2023; being contracted to the Russian or Belarusian military or national security, have participated in an event organised by the International Military Sports Council (CISM) since 2015; or have been part of the CSKA or Dynamo shooting sports clubs in Russia or members of the Sports Committee of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus since the invasion of Ukraine started.