Swimming-Russian and Belarusian athletes given green light to compete as neutrals

Swimming - 18th FINA World Swimming Championships - Men's 4x200m Freestyle Final - Nambu University Municipal Aquatics Center, Gwangju, South Korea - July 26, 2019. Team Russia competes. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji/File Photo

(Reuters) - Russian and Belarusian athletes will be allowed to compete as neutrals in World Aquatics events, the sport's governing body said on Monday.

Competitors from both countries were banned from international tournaments following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which Moscow describes as a "special military operation". Belarus has been a key staging point for the invasion.