St. Petersburg athletes prohibited from leaving Russia without official approval  

The St. Petersburg Physical Culture and Sports Committee has issued a decree prohibiting athletes, coaches, and staff of the city’s state-funded sports schools from traveling outside the Russian Federation without permission, reports RIA Novosti.

The ban applies not only to training camps and competitions held abroad but also to personal travel during vacation time.

Several state-funded sports school directors, who asked to remain anonymous, said that before, there was a list of “friendly” countries to which travel was allowed. “Until recently, it included Turkey, but then the committee said, ‘Forget about there,’” said the head of one of the schools.

According to Dmitry Vasiliev, the head of the St. Petersburg Biathlon Federation, travel to “unfriendly” countries has been banned since at least spring 2023. He added that this was entirely the right decision, telling Fontanka: “What should we do in unfriendly countries? Have the car confiscated and be thrown in jail? That’s just stupidity.”

St. Petersburg authorities have not commented on the decree at this time.