The decision was announced at the spring meeting of the FIS Council, held today prior to tomorrow’s virtual FIS Congress.

The FIS said the policy, that did not allow the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials at any of its events, would remain in effect until further notice, but reports suggest the issue may be revisited before the start of the 2023-2024 season.

Earlier today, Russian Ski Racing Federation President Elena Vyalbe told Russia’s official state news agency TASS that "the issue of admission can be considered at the FIS Council in September, not earlier."

FIS deputy general secretary Niklas Carlsson also hinted to Expressen that a decision would come further down the line when he said: "The issue {of Russia and Belarus} will be discussed, but what has been said both officially and unofficially is that it is better to have a late decision on how we concretely stand on the issue.

"There will be nothing black or white about how we do it, whether it will be a yes or no.

"Instead, it will probably be a process-oriented decision in how we will deal with the issue over time."

The FIS introduced a ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials in response to the invasion of Ukraine by the countries in March 2022, and extended it to the end of the 2022-2023 season in October.

In September 2022, FIS secretary general Michel Vion suggested that athletes from the two countries could return to its competitions by the end of the year.

He later admitted "regret" over the comments, which led to athletes threatening to boycott competitions and one of the FIS main sponsors Coop, a Norwegian retailer, claiming it would withdraw funding if such a step was taken.

The FIS subsequently extended the ban shortly after Vion’s comments.