At the 2022 Winter Olympics preceding the Ukraine invasion, Russian athletes were restricted to competing under the Team ROC banner due to Russia’s sanction over doping violations.
The International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) executive board pronounced an immediate and indefinite suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC). This action ensued as the ROC acknowledged four regional organizations from Ukrainian territories, illegally annexed by Russia as a result of its 2022 full-scale invasion.
The IOC cited last Thursday’s recognition as a violation of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine’s territorial integrity, which runs counter to the Olympic Charter. The suspension implies that the ROC can no longer function as a National Olympic Committee and is ineligible to receive any funds from the Olympic movement.
The regional Olympic Councils from Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia were previously recognized by the ROC. However, the IOC is yet to decide whether Russian athletes would be permitted to compete as neutrals at Paris 2024, and stated that the decision would be announced at an “appropriate time”.
Expressing its irritation, the ROC rebuked the suspension as another decision driven by political motivations, counterproductive to its cause. Despite the absence of initial sanctions placed on the ROC following the invasion, Russia has been barred from participating as a nation in athletics since November 2015 due to the revelation of untoward state-sponsored doping.
Although Russia’s doping ban was reinstated this March, the World Athletics Council determined it would hold Russia’s ban due to the ongoing Ukraine war.
Pressure on the IOC to deny participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes, even under a neutral flag, has been consistent since the invasion. Nevertheless, the IOC instructed sports federations to permit these athletes to compete neutrally in March.
Ukraine threatened a boycott of the forthcoming games in Paris if a comprehensive ban on Russian and Belarusian athletes is not enforced. Andriy Yermak, head of Ukraine’s presidential office, lauded the decision, stating “sports cannot be out of politics”, and accused Russia of using its athletes for propaganda.
Due to the current sanctions by the IOC, neither Russia nor its ally Belarus can host international sporting events. Also, the flags, national anthems, and other national symbols of both countries are strictly off-limits.
In further backlash this week, Russian Under-17 teams’ reinstatement plans for next year’s youth European Championships were discarded by Uefa, the governing body of European football, following opposition from numerous national football associations.
Yet this past March, the All England Club welcomed Russian and Belarusian tennis players to participate at Wimbledon, lifting a ban enforced a year earlier.
