Russian 97 kg superstar Abdulrashid Sadulaev has been ruled ineligible to compete at this weekend's European Olympic Games qualifier due to his support of the war in Ukraine and his continued membership in the Dynamo club.

According to United World Wrestling, a "third-party panel continuously monitors the eligibility of wrestlers based on the criteria defined by the IOC." their vetting process includes background checks and monitoring of Russian and Belarusian athletes' social media accounts. Each athlete goes through this process, "in preparation for any tournament."

It appears that UWW's vetting process is performed on a tournament by tournament basis which suggests that Sadulaev has not yet been ruled ineligible to compete at the Paris Olympic Games. That will be a moot point, however, if Russia fails to qualify the 97 kg weight class for Paris, and they only have two chances left.

In Sadulaev's absence, Russia is expected to send Alikhan Zhabrailov, the #5 ranked wrestler in the world, to the European Olympic Games Qualifier. He can secure a spot for Russia at the weight by making the finals, and he'll be favored to do that. If Zhabrailov fails to make the finals in Baku, Russia's last chance to qualify the weight would be at the World Olympic Qualifier in May.

The European Olympic Games Qualifier begins on Friday, April 5 with Greco-Roman. Women's Freestyle competition takes place on Saturday, April 6, and Men's Freestyle concludes the event on Sunday, April 7. All the action will be live on FloWrestling.