The International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) executive board has recommended that international sports federations ban Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials from competing in events, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The executive board member of IOC made the decision “in order to protect the integrity of global sports competitions and for the safety of all the participants”.
Showing its disagreement with the decision, The Russian Olympic Committee said the decision “contradicts both the regulatory documents of the IOC and the (Olympic) Charter”.
“As a first step, we consider it necessary to send requests to international federations for an official response on the status of Russian athletes and their rights to participate in international competitions due to the fact that it is the… federations that have the authority to admit athletes to international competitions in the respective sport,” the ROC said in a statement.
“For its part, the Russian Olympic Committee intends to consistently uphold the rights and interests of Russian athletes and provide all necessary assistance to our national federations to challenge discriminatory decisions of the relevant international federations.” The statement from IOC comes shortly before the Winter Paralympics, which starts in Beijing on Friday. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) will meet on Wednesday to discuss Russia ahead of the Games.
The IOC reiterated its recommendation not to organise any sports event in Russia or Belarus.
The IOC also said it had taken the ad hoc decision to withdraw the Olympic Order, the highest honour granted by the IOC, from all persons who currently have an important function in the government of the Russian Federation, including Russian President Vladimir Putin.
It said it made the decision based on “the exceptional circumstances of the situation and considering the extremely grave violation of the Olympic Truce and other violations of the Olympic Charter by the Russian government in the past”.
