Kuliak wore the letter “Z” on his singlet during the competition in March and also during the medal ceremony for the parallel bars, a competition won by Ukrainian Ilia Kovtun.

The symbol is widely regarded to be a signal of support for the Russian military action and had been displayed on tanks during the invasion of Ukraine.

"It is surprising to me that several letters of the Latin alphabet were included in the list of banned by the international federation and the organizers of the tournament in Doha," Russian State Duma Sports Committee chairman Dmitry Svishchev told the country's official state news agency TASS.

"When I looked at the regulations, I did not see that they were included in the list of prohibited signs, which is why a person can fall under sanctions.

"I personally do not see any offensive, discriminatory, nationalistic signs in Kuliak's act, just as the entire normal civilised world does not see it, 

"But, unfortunately, the Federation cannot cope with the pressure of politicians, big business tycoons, regulating the law or lawlessness in sports."

At the time, an FIG statement described Kuliak’s action as "shocking behaviour".

"Mr Kuliak is not allowed to participate in any FIG-sanctioned event or competition organised by an affiliated FIG member federation for one year, as of the date of this decision," the disciplinary ruling said.

In handing down the judgement, the three-member GEF disciplinary panel decided that Kuliak "breached the FIG statutes, the FIG code of discipline, the FIG code of ethics, the FIG code of conduct and the FIG technical regulations when he wore the letter Z on his singlet during the competition and award ceremony."

The 20-year-old Kuliak has been ordered to return the bronze medal and the prize money of CHF500 (£400/$500/€475) and was ordered to pay costs of CHF2,000 (£1,600/$2,000/€1,900).

The panel also stipulated that "if the protective measures keeping Russian athletes from competing are still in place on 17 May 2023, the ban shall continue and expire six months after the removal of said measures,"

Russian and Belarusian gymnasts have not been allowed to take part in FIG events since a ruling made at an emergency meeting of the FIG Executive Board in March.

Kuliak will have 21 days to appeal against the ban.

Kuliak was also one of a group of Russian sports stars who attended a "pro-victory" rally.

Only last week, Olympic women's team gold medallist Angelina Melnikova was pictured at a Victory day parade in Voronezh holding a "Z" symbol.

The GEF panel found that there was no case to answer against Russia delegation head Valentina Rodionenko or coach Igor Kalabushkin.

"Therefore the charges against these respondents have been dismissed."

They had provided written statements claiming that they were unaware of what Kuliak planned to do and played no role in it. 

They were each awarded costs of CHF1,000(£800/$1,000/€950) to be paid by the FIG who were also required to contribute CHF4,000 (£3,250/$4,000/€3,800) towards the costs of proceedings.

Rodionenko admitted she was surprised she was not punished. 

"What happened happened and we couldn't expect anything else," she told TASS.

"It is surprising that for some reason they decided to pardon me and the coach. 

"We had no doubt that we would be punished."

Rodionenko claimed that Kuliak would not allow the ban to end his career.

"Everything is fine with him, he trains, this year will pass normally, no one will notice," she said.

Vasily Titov, Artistic Gymnastics Federation of Russia, revealed that they would study the judgement before deciding whether or not to appeal, but may accept the decision.

"We have to look at the text of the decision, there are certain things that do not quite suit us, and then we will make a decision [on appeal]," he told TASS.

"But the fact that two of our representatives are acquitted suits us. 

"As for the terms and conditions of Kulyak's disqualification, we need to look into it. I do not rule out that we will fight, but we may have to agree."

Kuliak is the second Russian athlete to have been banned for showing their support for the Ukraine invasion.

Last month, double Olympic swimming champion Evgeny Rylov was suspended for nine months by the International Swimming Federation after taking part in a pro-war Moscow rally attended by Russian President Vladimir Putin.