The institutional consequences of the international isolation of Russian sports in 2022–2025

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Safronov R.V.
I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow

Kasatkin B.N.
I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow

Kolesov D.I.
I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow

Objective of the study is to analyze the institutional consequences of the international isolation of Russian sports in 2022-2025, including the scale of restrictions, conditions for admitting neutral athletes, organizational measures to overcome the isolation and the development of directions for the strategic institutional development of the sports system.
Methods and structure of the study. The methodological study is based on the principles of institutional analysis and a systems approach. The following methods were used: content analysis (regulatory acts and documents of the IOC, FIFA, FIG, the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation); comparative historical analysis (by stages: 2022, 2023, 2024); expert assessment of publications in the scientific and business press.
Results and conclusions. International isolation was not only competitive, but also political and organizational in nature, including suspension of membership of organizations, cancellation of tournament participation, postponement of events, exclusion from ratings. Partial admission of individual athletes under the AIN (Authorized Individual Neutral) status became a formal compromise, but in fact only consolidated institutional isolation for a long time.
Russia's adaptation strategies included restarting the national calendar, launching alternative formats (BRICS Games, Friendship Games), restructuring the reserve and developing an internal Russian competitive environment. The author concludes that a model of autonomous sports management has emerged, associated with the risks of losing international competitiveness, distorting competitive motivation and limiting access to global standards.

Keywords: international isolation, Russian sports, neutral status, Russian Olympic Committee, sports system, institutional adaptation.

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