Ilya Kondratiev, left, has been banned from the World Rowing Championships ©World Rowing

World Rowing has denied that it has banned Russia's Ilya Kondratiev from participating at the upcoming World Championships, scheduled to take place from September 3 to 10 in Belgrade.

Russian state-run news agency TASS reported that the global governing body had refused to allow Kondratiev to compete in the Serbian capital. 

"World Rowing did not agree on one athlete for us, we are talking about Ilya Kondratiev," TASS claimed Russian Rowing Federation President Alexei Svirin said.

"The International Federation has not explained the reasons for the refusal.

"It should also be noted that we applied even when there was not a single serious qualifying competition.

"There was no understanding of who would be the most competitive during the World Cup.

Ilya Kondratiev, left, competed at Tokyo 2020 but will miss out on the Paris 2024 qualifying event next month ©Getty Images
Ilya Kondratiev, left, competed at Tokyo 2020 but will miss out on the Paris 2024 qualifying event next month ©Getty Images

The 33-year-old Kondratiev competed for the Russian Olympic Committee at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. 

Alongside Andrey Potapkin, he finished seventh overall in the men's double sculls after winning the B final.

"World Rowing denies the inaccurate and misleading news that the Organisation had banned Russia's Ilya Kondratiev from participating at the upcoming World Championships," World Rowing told insidethegames.

"World Rowing received an official communication on July 21st, 2023, from the Russian Rowing Federation stating that Ilya Kondratiev would not be able to participate in the 2023 World Rowing Championships due to personal circumstances. 

"On that reason, the Russian Rowing Federation ask World Rowing to exclude the athlete from the list of potential participants for the 2023 World Rowing Championships’. 

"This letter was received and acknowledged by World Rowing."

The River Sava in Belgrade is set to host the next World Rowing Championships, which will see athletes qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games ©Getty Images
The River Sava in Belgrade is set to host the next World Rowing Championships, which will see athletes qualify for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games ©Getty Images

World Rowing reinstated Russian and Belarusian athletes to its competitions in June after initially implementing a blanket ban in February 2022 following the invasion of Ukraine.

The body allowed athletes from the two countries to compete provided they did so as individual neutrals and that they did not support the war and were not associated with the military.

This means that at the World Rowing Championships they will not be able to race in the men's or women's quads, coxless fours, or eight categories.

However, they are still eligible for pairs events on the River Sava.

The Championships are serving as a qualifying event for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and have a total of 124 quota places available.