Russian Olympic Committee banned for including annexed regions

The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) has been banned for recognizing regional sports organizations from four territories which have joined Russia.

The International Olympic Committee ( IOC) said on Thursday that the ROC would not be eligible for any funding after it recognized earlier this month Olympic Councils from those regions but that it would not affect any Russian athletes competing as neutrals.

“The unilateral decision taken by the Russian Olympic Committee on 5 October 2023 to include, as its members, the regional sports organizations which are under the authority of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Ukraine (namely Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia) constitutes a breach of the Olympic Charter,” the IOC said in a statement.

“It violates the territorial integrity of the NOC of Ukraine, as recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in accordance with the Olympic Charter.”

Thursday’s ruling does not affect any decision on Russian and Belarusian athletes’ participation at the Paris 2024 Olympics.

“The suspension of the ROC does not affect the participation of independent athletes,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams told a press conference on Thursday.

Russia calls suspension politically motivated

The ROC on Thursday called the IOC’s suspension a “counterproductive decision with obvious political motivations.”

'Absolutely unacceptable': Moscow slams Ukrainian attempts to ban Russian athletes from Paris Olympics

Moscow says Ukraine

“Today the IOC made another counterproductive decision with obvious political motivations,” the ROC 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 in the wake of Moscow’s military operation in Ukraine.

The IOC initially banned Russia and Belarus from international sports events after Moscow launched the operation that February.

However, in March of this year, the IOC recommended that sports federations allow Russians and Belarusians to return, as neutral athletes in individual events.

In September last year, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree for the formal accession of four regions of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia to the Russian Federation.

The development came after people in the four regions voted in favor of joining the Russian Federation in a referendum.

Russia says the operation in Ukraine has been in order to defend the pro-Russia population in the eastern Ukrainian regions of Luhansk and Donetsk against alleged persecution by Kiev. Ever since the war began, Kiev's allies, led by the United States and Britain, have been supplying Ukraine with weapons, a step that Russia says would prolong the conflict.

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