It ruled that it would reject the actions, following support from six independent legal opinions, on three pieces of criteria.

The FINA claimed LEN did not "follow correct due process", that the actions "were clearly politically motivated and driven by self-interest", and was "against the ethos of the new FINA leadership which embraces inclusivity, equality, integrity and democracy".

"With FINA's determination, the Portugal and Croatia Federations shall maintain full rights of membership within LEN, including the right to attend with a voting right at forthcoming Extraordinary Elective Congress in Frankfurt, Germany on 5 February 2022, and the FINA Extraordinary Congress on 18 December 2021 in Abu Dhabi," said the FINA in a statement.

On November 6, the LEN suspended both Associations for one year after its logo was used in a letter issued by a group of nations calling for the current leadership to resign.

Italian Paolo Barelli is the current President of the European body.

In the letter, representatives accused the regime of financial irregularities that led to a vote of no confidence at the LEN Congress in September from 23 nations to 22.

Barelli was re-elected to a third term as LEN President by a 86-13 vote but has since fallen out of favour with many of its members.

Issues were raised at the Congress over his transparency and lack of communication with the FINA.

LEN's general secretary David Sparkes issued a letter in response informing members to ignore communication from "Europe 4 All Aquatics", the group of concerned nations led by Portuguese Swimming Federation President António José Silva and Croatian delegate Josip Vardovic.

The organisation ruled that the use of the logo was a "complete violation of the constitution" in its decision to suspend the two countries.

The Extraordinary Elective Congress in Frankfurt was triggered due to the vote of no confidence, meaning European members will have the chance to vote on Barelli's position as President.

The dispute follows police in Switzerland seizing documents during a raid on the LEN offices in Nyon in March as part of an ongoing investigation into alleged financial irregularities and improper conduct against LEN officials.

Barelli and Sparkes held their current roles with the European body at the time of the alleged events.

Tamás Gyárfás, who is also a former head of the Hungarian Swimming Federation, was LEN treasurer at the time.

Barelli, Sparkes and Gyárfás, were reported to European authorities in 2020 over allegedly authorising six-figure payments to third-party companies over a period of five years.

They deny wrongdoing.

The division within European swimming poses a headache for FINA President Husain Al-Musallam.

The Kuwaiti official was elected in June and vowed to pursue a reform agenda after succeeding long-standing predecessor Julio Maglione, who defeated Barelli to secure what proved to be his final term in office following a bitter campaign with the Italian.