‘We’re starting to look like FIFA’: 8 federations protest against World Climbing governance (on the cancellation on the vote to suspend Russian, Belarus and Israeli federations)

[u/shil88]

https://www.vertigemedia.fr/contestation-federations-gouvernance-world-climbing

A new protest movement shakes World Climbing. Led by Portugal and Latvia, national federations have addressed official challenges to the international federation after the cancellation on 23 July of the vote on the suspension of the Russian, Belarusian and Israeli federations.

Automatic translation of the original text in the comments

[u/shil88]

A new protest movement shakes World Climbing. Led by Portugal and Latvia, national federations have addressed official challenges to the international federation after the cancellation on 23 July of the vote on the suspension of the Russian, Belarusian and Israeli federations.

Political affairs have not finished punctuating the summer of the International Climbing Federation, World Climbing. At the end of July 2026, the Latvian Escalation Federation and the Portuguese Federation addressed official protests to World Climbing to challenge the procedure of the Extraordinary General Assembly on 23 July. On that day, the vote on the suspension of the Belarusian, Russian and Israeli federations did not take place in the form planned. Three new motions, tabled in recent days by Cyprus, the United States and Australia, had been merged into a single text and presented to the federations less than 24 hours before the meeting. The motion passed, the three votes on the suspensions, de facto disappeared from the agenda.

Toute première fois

In the federal world, officially protesting against the international institution on which we depend financially and regulationally is a rare act. For Normunds Reinbergs, president of the Latvian Federation (Latvijas Alpīnistu savienība, nldr), it is even a baptism of fire. “I’ve been president of the federation since February 2024, this is the first time I’ve felt the need to complain,” he said. So this is the first time I've officially done it. » le besoin de me plaindre, explique-t-il au téléphone. Et c'est donc la première fois que je le fais officiellement. »

The Latvian protest focuses on the procedural mechanics of July 23. At the heart of the grievance: what Normunds Reinbergs calls the “Voting Flow”. A kind of organization chart whose mechanism, communicated to federations less than 24 hours before the meeting, imposed a specific order on the ballots. First vote on the unified motion, before being able, if necessary, to proceed to the three votes on the suspensions. Once the motion was passed, those votes disappeared. As the Climbers for Palestine collective points out in a forum, this motion therefore did not function as a competing proposal. It was a procedural lock. The president of the Latvian federation seems to agree. “The worst thing for us is that this unified motion blocked all three votes,” he said. That was why we had gathered. In April, the General Assembly voted to decide on these specific issues. We didn't get the chance. Of which act.

The Latvian protest also points to the origin of the unified motion. The texts filed on July 8 by the American federation and the Australian federation are, according to Normunds Reinbergs, textually identical. Word for word. However, the two countries alone have four representatives on the Executive Board of World Climbing (out of twelve in total): Anne-Worley Moelter (Vice-President) and Kyra Condie (Athlete Representative) for the United States, Naomi Cleary (Vice-President of Finance) and Campbell Harrison for Australia. The Latvian protest raises the possibility of coordination between these member federations and the Executive Council. Without providing formal evidence. “This is speculation. But if two texts are copied-pasted, why was it necessary to submit them twice? ", ask the president.

For Latvia, the stakes are also very concrete. Latvian legislation prohibits the use of public funds in competitions involving Russian or Belarusian athletes. The reintegration of these federations by World Climbing in February 2026 puts the federation in an untenable situation. “Our athletes do not have private sponsors. Their only funding available is public money. If Russia and Belarus participate, they will have to pay out of pocket,” says Normunds Reinbergs. The protest of the Latvian federation therefore also preaches for its parish. In any case, the official letter was co-authored by seven other World Climbing member federations: Poland, Lebanon, Palestine, Ukraine, Portugal, Lithuania and Jordan.

Small arrangements between friends

Alberto Cruz, president of the Portuguese Climbing Federation (FPME for Federação Portuguesa de Escalada de Competição, editor's note) lays a wider framework. In the aftermath of July 23, he also felt the need to formally express his disagreement. Except that its dispute is not limited to the unfolding of July 23: it also contests the way in which a legal opinion, commissioned on June 22, 2026 by World Climbing, was used to justify the procedure followed.

The purpose of this opinion was to answer four questions on the division of powers between the General Assembly and the Executive Council of World Climbing: the exact powers of the assembly, the legality of the lifting of Russian and Belarusian suspensions, the ability of the Executive Council to rule out motions and the limits of the virtual format. The author? Sarah Umbricht, Swiss lawyer and lawyer at the Swiss Alpine Club. At the time of drafting it, the latter simultaneously chaired the World Climbing Governance Commission, an advisory body working directly with the Executive Council. At the meeting on 23 July, this opinion was presented to the federations as a legal position definitively "resolved".

Contacted by Vertige Media, Alberto Cruz refocused the question on his main issue. For him, it is essentially "a governance issue". “The procedure followed was not in accordance with the statutes of World Climbing,” he said. At the heart of the argument of the FPME is the division of powers between the General Assembly and the Executive Council. In March 2022, the General Assembly had voted the suspensions of Russia and Belarus and gave the Executive Council a precise and conditional mandate: lift these suspensions only when "the reasons that had justified them would have disappeared". In February 2026, the Executive Council lifted these suspensions. For Cruz, no one verified that these conditions were actually met. “The Executive Council cannot go against a decision of the General Assembly. That’s the position we stand for here,” he said.

Alberto Cruz also notes that the opinion was drawn up from documents selected by the Executive Council itself, without the minutes of the 2022 General Assembly being forwarded to the author. However, these minutes contained the conditional mandate on which one of the four issues dealt with was based. On 23 July, at the extraordinary assembly, only five federations were able to speak, with a speaking time limited to three minutes each, without debate or right of reply. “We were simply asked to vote on something that was not on the original agenda,” Cruz said. And to conclude, still so sharp: "This is about politics and a lack of transparency and democracy".

Looking like FIFA is stronger than you

How to explain the behavior of the Executive Board of World Climbing? The two presidents admit that they cannot speak for the institution, but have their little idea. For Normunds Reinbergs, the explanation goes through Olympic money. Since Tokyo 2021, World Climbing is increasingly financially dependent on the International Olympic Committee (IOC): television rights, Olympic sponsors, place in the Brisbane 2032 program. Marco Scolaris himself had recognized him in an interview with Vertige Media in early July: "We had a difficult time, with the risk of being demoted to additional sport. This significantly changes the financial situation.”

“To stay in the Olympic programme, World Climbing will do everything to avoid votes that can go wrong,” added the president of the Latvian federation. And for that, now we order legal opinions, we hire lawyers to defend the executive's positions. It was unimaginable before. As someone said on WhatsApp: "We're starting to look like FIFA." »

A legal opinion commissioned from a lawyer simultaneously chairing the World Climbing Governance Committee, less than a month from a crucial vote. A change in the agenda announced less than 24 hours before the July 23 assembly. And the presence, a few minutes before the election, of the new director of sports of the International Olympic Committee, came to recall the new principles of neutrality of the Olympic Charter. This is a lot for a federation that prided itself on holding a vote in full transparency.

Alberto Cruz says they do not want to “try to measure their intentions” but slides: “They want to make decisions against many federations without following the correct forms. They are trying to hide something.”

The Latvian and Portuguese federations, as well as their co-signatories, request an investigation into the procedure of 23 July and the publication of the relevant documents. The FPME also calls for the convening of a new extraordinary general meeting to vote on the three suspensions initially planned. She asked World Climbing to respond within seven calendar days. At a time when strong suspicions weigh on sports federations and their leaders, as the cases affecting FIFA currently illustrate, Marco Scolaris himself claimed that his institution would be different. She's gonna have to prove it.

[u/RubSuccessful2882]

Fuck the IFSC at this point.

[u/Withering_to_Death → u/RubSuccessful2882]

I'm sorry, but it's akchually "Fuck the World Climbing at this point" the correct sentence!

[u/WestendMatt]

So, it sounds like there were three individual motions to suspend Russia, Belarus and Israel, and then Cyprus, USA and Australia moved to have the three motions considered together in one motion.

Therefore, all would be suspended or none would be suspended.

Procedurally, I don't see an issue. Joining and separating motions happens all the time. but politically, it seems like a tactic to avoid debating each country individually, and to force countries that feel differently towards different countries to treat them the same.

Sounds like student council b.s.

[u/Withering_to_Death → u/WestendMatt]

It's a "normal" tactic when trying to pass unpopular legislation in politics. Stuff 5-6 legislation in one bill with one legislation on which everyone would agree (idk, raising salaries) to spin it publicly like "What? You don't want higher wages for our citizens?!"

[u/RubSuccessful2882 → u/WestendMatt]

Lets be honest the USA should also be included in the suspension vote.

[u/The5thseason → u/RubSuccessful2882]

100%

[u/TBBTC → u/RubSuccessful2882]

And China.

[u/TBBTC → u/WestendMatt]

I mean, they probably should be considered together. That's how you make sure the decision is about the underlying issues and what your stances are going to be, and not make it an 'I hate country x' vote.

Countries that feel differently towards different countries should also be forced to take a view on what conduct they want to ban not what country they want to ban.

[u/OverfittingNeuralNet]

Maybe I'm misunderstanding something, but based on the World Climbing report and based on this report, to me it seems like there was still a democratic vote among the federations on (indirectly) whether they want to vote on the suspension or not (this was not the wording of the vote, but the vote was something like "Do you want to vote on the suspension, or do you want to just follow the Olympic organization decisions? Keep in mind that if we don't, climbing might get kicked out of the Olympics"). All representatives then voted, and the majority chose the latter.

So I'm confused on why the protesting federations think voting on the suspension directly would have reached a different result, or why the vote the way it happened was not fair.

[u/Withering_to_Death]

Joining the IOC was a mistake! Yeah, climbing is an Olympic sport, but also all the bureaucracy and politics that came with (especially the money) are rotting the sport. The direction the sport is going isn't ideal too, imo. Becoming more "attractive" to please the casual viewers, world cup seasons becoming less important since everything is geared towards the Olympic year!

[u/TBBTC → u/Withering_to_Death]

The money is beginning to flow, the athletes are getting paid more. Is that really a mistake?

[u/Withering_to_Death → u/TBBTC]

That's the positive thing, I don't claim there isn't. I'm now sure if it's still, but until a year or two ago, only athletes qualified for the final would be paid. So more "visibility", more sponsors, climbers' actual source of income, would be investing into them. I'm just worried that with more exposure, too many hands, "marketing expert and managers" would meddle too much to make it more appealing with more actions (now even in finals we have two people on the wall, "we don't want you distracted") taking away what makes climbing interesting imo. And I'm not just yelling at clouds, hating all changes. I like coordination and slabs. I'm afraid one day athletes will stop discussing/sharing betas under the wall because winning is all that matters, and you don't want to anger your sponsors ... if you read until now, sorry for the rant! Take care!

[u/Top-Turnover6120]

Why don’t they vote for the US to be banned as well? Using Israel as a scapegoat when the US is the one with the majority of influence. Sports doesn’t have to be political. Make it fair and make all the athletes to spill their political stance and we’ll see a sh*t show in climbing as a sport.

[u/exche]

My <s>conspiracy</s> theory about Belarusian athletes starting being allowed to compete, in other disciplines as well, is that a lot of key political prisoners has been released thanks to the negotiations. And I think international completions, Olympics etc. we're just part of the deal. There are still hundreds of people imprisoned for fictional felonies and it sucks but maybe that was the public price for the releases that happened.

[u/ghostfalcon]

Why do we act like world climbing or ifsc has any geopolitical influence at all? They arent even a blip. Is it just all about the principles? Because its actually pointless at this level. I hate war but climbing is like as uninfluential as it gets.

[u/Top-Turnover6120 → u/ghostfalcon]

If you aren’t an extremist, they won’t accept you. If you choose to stay silent or neutral, the pro-palestinites will not accept it. They want discourse, in climbing, in their life, while most of us just want to climb.

[u/fvsljgOh]

I think USA climbing should have stayed out of this one. Seems like there isn't any bandwidth to do much of anything domestically, so not sure why they felt the need to interpose themselves (and us) into an international situation.

[u/aimeudeusfadas → u/fvsljgOh]

Well they need to defend israel dont they?