Jan 29 (Reuters) - The Court of Arbitration for Sport has said it does not have jurisdiction to hear an appeal from Russian cross-country skier Aleksandr Bolshunov over the decision to exclude him from the upcoming Winter Olympics.
The 29-year-old, a three-time Olympic champion, was told in December by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) that he would not be among the individual neutral athletes from Russia and Belarus, who are banned due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, that are allowed to compete in Milano Cortina.
Bolshunov filed an appeal with the ad hoc division of CAS, which has been set up to settle legal disputes that arise during the Games, but the body said on Thursday that it could only hear issues that occurred a maximumof 10 days before the opening ceremony of the Games on February 6.
"As a result, the dispute must have arisen by 27 January 2026 at the latest, in order to fall within its jurisdiction. Consequently, the case could not be entertained as it was filed outside the jurisdiction of the CAS Ad hoc Division Milano Cortina 2026," CAS said in a statement.
(Reporting by Philip O'Connor in Stockholm, additional reporting by Tommy LundEditing by Christian Radnedge)
