the International Olympic Committee suspends the Russian Olympic Committee

The International Olympic Committee suspended the Russian National Olympic Committee “with immediate effect”, for having placed under its authority five organizations from occupied Ukrainian regions, announced a spokesperson on Thursday October 12. This decision automatically deprives the Russian body of Olympic funding, but has no consequences on the possible presence of Russian athletes under a neutral banner at the 2024 Paris Olympics, which will be decided by the IOC “at the appropriate time”indicated the same source.

“The unilateral decision taken by the Russian Olympic Committee on October 5, 2023 to include, among its members, thehe regional sports organizations which fall under of the authority of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Ukraine (i.e. Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhia) constitutes a violation of the Olympic Charter as it undermines the territorial integrity of the NOC of Ukraine, as recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in accordance with the Olympic Charter”detailed the IOC in a press release.

The reaction of the Russian committee was immediate. The latter denounced a decision “policy” And “counterproductive”. “The IOC has made a new decision that is counterproductive and clearly politically motivated”, he accused on the social network Telegram. For his part, the head of the Ukrainian presidency, Andrïï Iermak welcomed the position of the IOC: “Sport cannot be separated from politics when a terrorist country commits genocide against Ukraine and uses athletes as propaganda”.