International Olympic Committee suspends Russian Olympic Committee over Ukraine move
FirstpostThe move comes after the Russian Olympic Committee recognised regional organisations from four Ukrainian territories annexed since the invasion began in 2022. The International Olympic Committee on Thursday suspended Russia’s national Olympic body with “immediate effect” for violating the territorial integrity of Ukraine’s membership by recognising illegally annexed territories. “The Russian Olympic Committee is no longer entitled to operate as a National Olympic Committee, as defined in the Olympic Charter, and cannot receive any funding from the Olympic movement,” IOC spokesman Mark Adams said after the opening day of an executive board meeting in Mumbai. Adams said the suspension had followed the “unilateral decision” taken by the Russian Olympic Committee on October 5 to include, as its members, the four regional sports organisations which are under the authority of Ukraine’s NOC, namely Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia.