Russia was officially deprived of the right to hold the World Swimming Championships in 2025, which, according to the decision of the World Aquatics International Federation, should have been held in Kazan (Republic of Tatarstan, Russian Federation).

Now the championship has been moved to Singapore, the Associated Press agency reported.

Kazan was going to host the World Championship for the second time, the first time it happened in 2015.

Then, despite the annexation of Crimea and the occupation of parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, Russia managed to host the World Swimming Forum.

The International Olympic Committee previously asked sports federations not to hold competitions in Russia following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022.

"Singapore has everything we hope to share with our athletes: world-class facilities, world-class competition experience and a comprehensive approach to aquatics, from the elite level to the grassroots," said World Aquatics President

in in his statement, in which he did not mention Russia.

Now the IOC is leaning towards allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete at the 2024 Olympics in Paris under a neutral flag.

This caused resistance in Ukraine and contributed to the first calls for a boycott of the Games.

The final decision on this issue will be made in the summer of 2023, a year before the start of the Olympics.

For now, another world championship has been postponed from Russia, and in some sports, Russians and Belarusians are not allowed to participate in international tournaments.