The Russian Olympic Committee was suspended by the IOC on Thursday for breaching the Olympic Charter by incorporating sports bodies in four regions in eastern Ukraine.
The IOC said in a statement that the ROC’s suspension related to its unilateral decision on October 5 to include as members regional sports organisations which are under the authority of the Ukrainian Olympic Committee.
These regional organisations are within territories annexed by the Russian military amid its invasion of Ukraine.
The IOC added: “The IOC reserves the right to decide about the participation of individual neutral athletes with a Russian passport in the Olympic Games Paris 2024 and the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 at the appropriate time.”
On March 28, the IOC set out recommendations that international sports federations could apply on allowing Russian and Belarusian athletes to return to competition on strict conditions of neutrality.
No decision has yet been taken on whether individual athletes from the country will be allowed to compete at next summer’s Games in Paris.
“Today the IOC made another counterproductive decision with obvious political motivations,” the Russian Olympic Committee said in a statement.
“This secures de jure what was done de facto back in February 2022,” it added, referring to the ban on Russian athletes issued by most international sports federations in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
SkySports
