With ten days to go before the final round of the European Youth Climbing Cup in Brussels, the climbing gym Le Camp de Base has announced that it will not make its facilities available for the event. The reason is what it describes as the lack of a clear framework regarding Israel’s national representation in the context of the war in Gaza and the proceedings against Israel before the International Court of Justice. The gym’s initial request was to allow Israeli athletes to compete under neutral status, which was rejected by the Israeli federation. This status is provided for by World Climbing (formerly IFSC) and is currently granted to Russian athletes.
The final round of the World Climbing Europe Youth Series Brussels 2026, scheduled for May 30 and 31 in Brussels, will not take place at the originally planned venue. As a reminder, World Climbing is the new name of the International Federation of Sport Climbing (IFSC). In a statement released on May 19, the Brussels climbing gym Le Camp de Base announced that it will ultimately not make its new facility, Le Camp avancé, located in Ixelles, available to host the international youth competition.
“We have decided that we cannot make our climbing gym, facilities, and staff available under the conditions currently proposed”, Le Camp de Base stated. The gym justified its decision by referring to “the ongoing proceedings before the International Court of Justice under the Genocide Convention” and to “the findings of serious violations of international law” identified by the International Court of Justice in its advisory opinion of 19 July 2024 concerning the occupied Palestinian territories.
Photo of the “Le Camp de Base” venue in Brussels.
The organization clarifies that this decision is not directed at Israeli climbers as individuals. “Our decision is not directed against Israeli athletes as individuals, nor is it based on their nationality”, the statement says. The base camp explains that the point of disagreement is not about the young athletes’ participation in the sport, but about Israel’s national representation within the context of an official competition.
“An official competition is not merely a gathering of individuals. It is also a space of representation. Flags, anthems, official uniforms, podium protocols, broadcast graphics, rankings, delegations, and federations are all part of it. In this context, athletes do not compete solely as private individuals. They also represent a country, a federation, and a state. That is where our disagreement lies.”
According to Le Camp de Base, the issue of granting Israeli athletes a neutral status –without a flag or national uniform – should have been settled beforehand.
According to Le camp de base, this issue should have been resolved by international governing bodies before the event took place. The venue states that it has been alerting CMBel, the Belgian federation, and World Climbing, the European and internationalgoverning body for climbing, for several months. It had hoped that a decision would be made at the World Climbing General Assembly on April 23, 2026. The matter was ultimately postponed until July.
“This postponement places local organizers, host venues, volunteers, and staff in an impossible position: having to deal on the ground with an issue of international governance that should have been resolved beforehand”, Le Camp de Base argues.
Climber Ayala Kerem of the Israeli team. ©IFSC
The gym’s initial request was to allow Israeli athletes to compete under a neutral status, in line with the neutrality policy adopted by World Climbing in October 2025. During the latest discussions, World Climbing reportedly indicated that fully implementing such a neutral status would be difficult within the remaining timeframe. A compromise was therefore proposed on 18 May, following discussions involving World Climbing, CMBel, and the Belgian and Israeli federations.
According to Le Camp de Base, this compromise would have allowed the athletes to participate “without any visible or overt sign of Israeli national representation during the event”: no Israeli flag, no anthem, no official team jersey, and no national symbols in the rankings, broadcasts, podium ceremonies, or official communications.
However, during a meeting held on 19 May, the Israeli Climbing Federation (ILCA) did not accept the proposal. “ILCA did not accept the proposed compromise and maintained its demand that the event take place with Israeli national representation”, Le Camp de Base wrote.
RUSSIAN ATHLETES DID INDEED COMPETE IN WORLD CLIMBING EVENTS UNDER NEUTRAL STATUS IN MAY 2026
There is, however, a precedent in the exclusion of the Russian federation in 2021. Since the creation of neutral status last February, Russian athletes have indeed competed in World Climbing events under neutral status: four of them competed in the World Climbing Series in Keqiao, China, in early May 2026, under the code AIN (Neutral Athlete Federation), without a Russian flag or national representation. Elena Krasovskaia did indeed compete under this status in the last two competitions in May 2026 in Korea and China.
The logo of the Israeli Climbing Federation.
The gym also cited operational reasons. It stated that a significant portion of its staff had indicated that they did not wish to work at the event under the current conditions.
The base camp also raises concerns about the security framework, particularly the lack of official confirmation that no private security personnel or embassy-affiliated staff will be present.
The statement refers to a previous incident that occurred during the IFSC European Cup held in Brussels in May 2025, where unaccredited security personnel were reportedly present or intervened outside the official Belgian framework. The venue also states that it has received reports of possible disruptions.
“Our decision is therefore a moral one, but it is also tied to our concrete responsibilities as a host venue, employer, and operator”, writes Le Camp de Base.
“Beyond ethical and governance concerns, there are also operational reasons that prevent us from hosting the event safely and responsibly under the current circumstances.”
LAST YEAR, UNACCREDITED SECURITY PERSONNEL GOT THEMSELVES INTO A COMPETITION IN BRUSSELS
The base camp emphasizes that athletes, including Israeli athletes, should not be held responsible for the situation. “Our disagreement concerns governance, national representation, and the lack of a credible framework. It does not concern athletes as individuals and must not lead to any form of discrimination”, the statement clarifies.
The federation states that it does not refuse to host World Climbing events on principle. It says it is ready to host such a competition if, following a vote scheduled for July within the governing body, a framework deemed “clear, consistent, and acceptable” is adopted. It calls on World Climbing to take “a clear, consistent, and public position in July, or before.”
OUR DISAGREEMENT CONCERNS GOVERNANCE, NATIONAL REPRESENTATION, AND THE LACK OF A CREDIBLE FRAMEWORK. IT DOES NOT CONCERN THE ATHLETES AS INDIVIDUALS. LE CAMP DE BASE
In the meantime, the decision makes it impossible to hold the Brussels event at the planned venue. Le Camp de Base says it regrets the consequences for the young athletes, their families, coaches, volunteers, and the federations involved. The venue says it is working on organizing an unofficial simulation or training session, open to athletes who still wish to climb in Brussels that same weekend.
“We would have preferred to host a competition within a clear, fair, and responsible framework. That framework does not exist today”, concludes Le camp de base. Before adding: “We cannot claim that sport is neutral and apolitical when its history proves the opposite.”