The Extraordinary General Assembly was convened following a vote at the 23rd General Assembly to consider these two matters.

National Federations first approved the statutory amendments required to formally change the legal name of the International Federation of Sport Climbing to World Climbing. Ahead of the vote, members were given an overview of the new World Climbing brand, including how it is already being used across the federation’s events and communications and how it will continue to be rolled out in the future.

The amendments, which required a two-thirds majority, were approved. The decision brings the federation’s Statutes into line with the World Climbing identity and replaces references to the IFSC throughout the document. The change of legal name does not affect the organisation’s governance structure, membership or sporting operations.

The General Assembly then considered the status of the Belarus Alpinism and Climbing Federation, the Climbing Federation of Russia and the Israel Climbing Association.

Ahead of the meeting, the Executive Board commissioned two independent legal opinions to clarify the respective roles of the General Assembly and the Executive Board under the World Climbing Statutes. Both confirmed that the General Assembly may make recommendations concerning the suspension of National Federations from World Climbing’s institutional activities, while any formal decision remains with the Executive Board. Decisions relating to athlete participation and eligibility also remain with the Executive Board.

Members were given the opportunity to address the General Assembly and express their views before the vote. IOC Sports Director Pierre Ducrey also joined the meeting to explain the IOC’s current position, including recent changes to the Olympic Charter concerning political neutrality and access to international sport.

Before the country-specific suspension motions were considered, National Federations voted on a single motion unifying proposals submitted by Australia, Cyprus and the United States.

The motion proposed removing the three individual suspension votes and recommending the adoption of a consistent, principles-based framework for the participation of National Federations. The framework will be based on governance criteria, proportionality and non-discrimination, aligned with the Olympic Charter and the positions of the International Olympic Committee and International Paralympic Committee.

The motion was approved. As a result, the individual suspension votes concerning Belarus, Russia and Israel were not held, and no recommendation was made to suspend any National Federation.

Furthermore, the National Federations were informed that allegations concerning possible breaches of the World Climbing Statutes by the Israel Climbing Association and the Climbing Federation of Russia will be referred to the Disciplinary Commission. The referral does not mean that either National Federation has been found to have breached the Statutes, nor does it result in an immediate consequence.

The decision did not change the eligibility or participation status of individual athletes. Existing rules therefore remain in place, including the current Neutral Athletes Policy for eligible Russian and Belarusian athletes and team officials.