The IOC has suspended the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) with immediate effect.
The moves comes after the ROC included four Ukrainian sports organisations as members, “violating its territorial integrity”. Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022 with president Vladimir Putin illegally annexing the regions of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia seven months later.
The IOC also state they reserve the right to decide on the participation of individual neutral athletes with a Russian passport in next year’s summer Olympics in Paris and the winter Games in Milan in 2026.
An IOC statement read: “The unilateral decision taken by the Russian Olympic Committee on 5 October 2023 to include, as its members, the regional sports organisations 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 because it violates the territorial integrity of the NOC of Ukraine, as recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in accordance with the Olympic Charter.”
