The Russian Olympic Committee has been suspended “with immediate effect until further notice” by the executive board of the International Olympic Committee.
The action was taken in response to the ROC’s recognition of regional organizations from four illegally acquired Ukrainian territory by Russia since the start of its full-scale invasion in 2022.
“A breach of the Olympic Charter because it violates the territorial integrity of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine,” declared the IOC in response to the recognition last Thursday.
The ROC “cannot receive any funding from the Olympic movement” and “is no longer entitled to operate as a National Olympic Committee” as a result of the suspension.
The ROC recognized the Olympic Councils in the provinces of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia.
The IOC further stated that it would determine “at the appropriate time” whether Russian athletes might participate in Paris 2024 as neutrals.
The suspension was referred to as “another counterproductive decision with obvious political motivations” by the ROC in response.
After the invasion, the IOC did not officially censure the ROC; but, due to the discovery of state-sponsored doping, Russia has been prohibited from participating in athletics as a nation since November 2015.
Although Russia’s doping ban was lifted in March, the World Athletics Council decided that the country will be prohibited “for the foreseeable future” due to the conflict in Ukraine.
