World Rowing suspends Serbian Rowing Federation over financial debts

The World Rowing Executive Committee, after meeting on Thursday, 14 December 2023, has decided to suspend the Serbian Rowing Federation as a member of World Rowing as of January 1st, 2024.

This decision comes over significant financial debts being owed to World Rowing and various event suppliers by the Serbian Rowing Federation and relevant Serbian authorities serving as guarantors of the 2022 World Rowing Cup I and 2023 World Rowing Championships held in Belgrade, Serbia.

As per the Bye-Laws to Article 15 of the World Rowing statutes, “Member Federations that have subscriptions in arrears or that have unresolved debts to World Rowing or to an organising committee of a World Rowing event may be suspended by the Executive Committee or expelled by Congress. In any event, no member of that federation may stand for elections, their delegates shall forfeit their voting rights, and the Executive Committee may ban or suspend the federation’s teams, officials, umpires and Commission members from competitive and other World Rowing events.”

Legal proceedings against the Serbian Rowing Federation and official guarantors are also being launched.

This suspension implies:

1. Inability for the Serbian Rowing Federation to participate in the governance of the sport of Rowing in Serbia and internationally.
2. Inability for the Serbian Rowing Federation to enter athletes into World Rowing events and Olympic / Paralympic Games.
3. Inability for Serbia to host any future World Rowing events.

World Rowing has been in close communication with the Serbian Rowing Federation and various Serbian authorities for several months regarding the payment of these outstanding debts to find a possible solution.

The World Rowing Executive Committee hopes for a quick resolution of the situation. Upon settlement of the financial debts, the World Rowing Executive Committee will meet again to discuss the possible reinstatement of the Serbian Rowing Federation.