Russian Olympic Swimming Champion Rylov Suspended For Moscow Rally Appearance

Yvgeny Rylov poses on the podium after the final of the men's 200-meter backstroke swimming event during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo on July 30, 2021.

FINA, international swimming's governing body, says it has suspended Russian Olympic champion Yevgeny Rylov for appearing at a pro-war rally in Moscow last month.

Switzerland-based FINA said in a statement that the ban took effect on April 20, and will last for nine months.

Rylov participated in a pro-war rally at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow on March 18, sparking an investigation by the world swimming agency.

FINA, which has already had banned Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials from all events through to the end of 2022, said in the statement that Rylov was suspended for his "attendance and conduct" at the event.

Russian cultural and sports groups and individuals have been barred from many international competitions following Moscow's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.

Belarus has also been hit after Russia used its territory to move troops into Ukraine.

The March 18 rally featured Russian President Vladimir Putin speaking before a large crowd, many of whom were holding national flags and patriotic posters to mark the eighth anniversary of the 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region.

The Kremlin, which used the occasion to justify Moscow's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, slammed FINA's decision, describing it as another example of the "politicization of sport," coming the same week that Russian and Belarusian tennis players were banned from Wimbledon.

"Eventually, this inflicts damages on international federations, international tournaments, when the strongest are unable to take part in them," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists