FINA has started disciplinary proceedings against Rylov for a potential violation of its rules following his alleged participation in a pro-war rally at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.

Rylov was one of eight Russian athletes identified at the rally led by Russian President Vladimir Putin on March 18 to support the country’s invasion of Ukraine.

The 25-year-old, who claimed a backstroke double at last year’s Olympics in Tokyo with titles in the 100 metres and 200m distances, wore his Olympic medals on stage alongside gymnasts, skiers and figures sporting the nationalist "Z" symbol.

He is now under investigation by FINA with the governing body’s Disciplinary Panel opening a case against him earlier this week.

"I think the whole point is that I am the world face of swimming and I have double demand," Rylov told Russian newspaper Sport Express.

"If it wasn’t for me on stage at Luzhniki, but for someone else from the swimmers, you might not even pay attention.

"At the Olympics, I attracted increased attention, and now it is riveted to me in all aspects of life."

Rylov’s appearance at the rally at the main venue for the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow also resulted in Speedo terminating its sponsorship deal with him.

Speedo confirmed that it was donating the balance of Rylov's sponsorship fee to the United Nations Refugee Agency, which is currently helping Ukrainians fleeing from their homes following the attack by Russia.

As well as winning two Olympic golds, Rylov claimed 4x200m freestyle silver at Tokyo 2020 and 200m backstroke bronze at Rio 2016.

He has also won eight World Championship medals, including winning the 200m backstroke at the last two editions in Gwangju in 2017 and Budapest in 2019.

Russian and Belarusian athletes had been allowed to compete as neutrals, with the FINA claiming that it had a legally robust option to exclude them "if their attendance threatens the safety and wellbeing of athletes or places the conduct of competition at risk".

The governing body for aquatics sport then agreed on March 23 to ban athletes from the two nations from competing in any of its events following a review of an independent risk assessment.

Several countries had threatened to boycott the World Championships if athletes from Russia and Belarus competed in Hungarian capital Budapest.

Rylov said he would not compete at the World Championships - scheduled to be held from June 18 to July 3 - in support of suspended athletes, hours before a ban on Russian athletes was confirmed.

"I think that by losing competition, the development of sport is lost," Rylov wrote in a post on Instagram.

"No matter how sad it may sound, but sport cannot move forward without worthy competitors.

"Conclusions should be made by the federations about the direction in which they want to develop sports and whether Pierre de Coubertin wanted to see when he initiated the organisation of the Olympic Games, which were supposed to unite people."

FINA has re-emphasised the statement it issued on March 23 confirmed that its disciplinary panel was investigating Rylov.

"The FINA Executive confirmed that the FINA Disciplinary Panel has opened a procedure against Russian swimmer Evgeny Rylov for a potential violation of the FINA rules following his alleged participation in a pro-war rally at the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow," the statement from FINA read. 

"The FINA Executive has requested that the panel’s proceedings be expedited."