IOC suspends Russian Olympic Committee, which denounces ‘political’ decision – 12/10/2023 – Sport

The IOC (International Olympic Committee) announced, this Thursday (12), the suspension “with immediate effect” of the Russian Olympic Committee for placing five Ukrainian regional organizations under its authority.

The decision automatically deprives the Russian body of IOC funding, but has, for now, no consequences for the possible presence of Russian athletes under a neutral flag at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. This specific topic will be discussed “at the appropriate time”.

For the Olympic entity, it is about applying sanctions to Russia’s “violation” of the “territorial integrity” defended by the Olympic Charter, said spokesman Mark Adams.

On October 5, the Russian Olympic Committee “unilaterally” included among its members several sports organizations from Ukrainian provinces in the east of the country (Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia) occupied by the Russian Army.

Following the IOC’s announcement, the Russian Olympic Committee denounced what it called a “political” and “counterproductive” decision by the highest Olympic entity.

The Ukrainian government subsequently reacted, celebrating the decision.

“Sport cannot be separated from politics when a terrorist country commits genocide against Ukraine and uses sportspeople as propaganda,” declared the head of the Ukrainian presidential administration, Andriy Yermak.

The IOC has kept Russian and Belarusian sport under sanctions since, at the end of February 2022, the Russian Army invaded Ukraine. The act was considered a violation of the Olympic truce during the Beijing 2022 Winter Games. In this sense, it was recommended that international federations ban all competitions on Russian territory, as well as the presence of any official symbol of Russia, be it the anthem, be the flag.

His position regarding the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes (these being allies of Moscow) in international competitions has changed. He went from exclusion, at first, to the possibility of re-entry, decided last March. The conditions for this participation are that it takes place in individual events, that the athletes compete under a neutral flag and that they have not “actively supported the war in Ukraine”.

To date, the IOC has not yet decided whether athletes from these two nationalities will be able to participate in the Paris Games in 2024 or the Milan Winter Games two years later.