The International Olympic Committee took the unusual step of suspending the Russian Olympic Committee on Thursday as punishment for Russia’s recent attempt to claim athletes from regions in Ukraine as their own.
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The announcement, which came after the IOC’s executive board meeting in Mumbai, means the ROC will stop receiving funding from the IOC while under suspension. The IOC is often a large source of funding for each country’s Olympic committee.
Thursday’s decision does not impact the current IOC policy that bans athletes from Russia and Belarus from next summer’s Paris Olympics but allows each sport to decide allow those athletes to participate as independents provided they do not publicly support the war or are part of the Russian military.
IOC says it will not invite Russia or Belarus to the Paris Olympics
In a statement, the IOC called Russia’s attempt earlier this month to incorporate sports governing bodies from the areas of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia “a breach of the Olympic Charter” and “violates the territorial integrity of [Ukraine’s Olympic committee]. ”
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Under the suspension, the ROC will not be able to operate as an Olympic committee. Belarus’s Olympic committee is not part of the suspension.
IOC officials repeatedly have said they will not make a decision on changing their policy on Russian and Belarusian independent athletes until closer to the Olympics.
“The decision for when the decision will be taken has not been made yet,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams said Thursday during a news conference in Mumbai.
Never miss a goal or a touchdown. Sign up for Sports Alerts to receive email alerts on major sports news as soon as it breaks.
The announcement, which came after the IOC’s executive board meeting in Mumbai, means the ROC will stop receiving funding from the IOC while under suspension. The IOC is often a large source of funding for each country’s Olympic committee.
Thursday’s decision does not impact the current IOC policy that bans athletes from Russia and Belarus from next summer’s Paris Olympics but allows each sport to decide allow those athletes to participate as independents provided they do not publicly support the war or are part of the Russian military.
IOC says it will not invite Russia or Belarus to the Paris Olympics
In a statement, the IOC called Russia’s attempt earlier this month to incorporate sports governing bodies from the areas of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia “a breach of the Olympic Charter” and “violates the territorial integrity of [Ukraine’s Olympic committee]. ”
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Under the suspension, the ROC will not be able to operate as an Olympic committee. Belarus’s Olympic committee is not part of the suspension.
IOC officials repeatedly have said they will not make a decision on changing their policy on Russian and Belarusian independent athletes until closer to the Olympics.
“The decision for when the decision will be taken has not been made yet,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams said Thursday during a news conference in Mumbai.
