Russian appeal against Olympic suspension dismissed as Moscow blasts ‘discrimination’
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Russia was suspended for recognising regional organisations from territories seized from Ukraine, amid Moscow's invasion of its neighbour.
PHOTO: REUTERS
GENEVA – Russia’s appeal against its suspension by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was dismissed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Feb 23, with Moscow lambasting its banishment from this summer’s Paris Games as “discrimination”.
The IOC suspended the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) in October 2023 for violating the territorial integrity of the membership of Ukraine by recognising illegally annexed territories.
“The CAS panel dismissed the appeal and confirmed the challenged decision, finding that the IOC executive board did not breach the principles of legality, equality, predictability or proportionality,” the international body said. “The panel’s decision is final and binding except for the parties’ right to file an appeal to the Swiss Federal Tribunal within 30 days on limited grounds.”
The IOC suspension of the ROC came on Oct 12, 2023, a week after it had decided to include, as its members, the regional sports organisations which are under the authority of Ukraine’s National Olympic Committee (NOC), namely Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia.
ROC’s decision to include organisations under Ukraine’s NOC charge “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 in accordance with the Olympic Charter”, an IOC spokesman said.
“The IOC EB (executive board) decision has been duly implemented since it was taken.”
The ROC reacted at the time of its suspension by denouncing it as “yet another counterproductive, politically motivated decision” taken by the IOC.
On Feb 23, Russia again blasted the decision.
“The CAS decision is further evidence that civil and sports discrimination against Russians has reached unprecedented proportions in the run-up to the Games in Paris,” the ROC said in a statement.
The ROC had appealed against the suspension to the CAS, sport’s highest tribunal, on Nov 6.
The IOC went on to give the green light in December to the participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes at the Paris Games but only as neutrals, outside of team events and if they did not actively support the war against Ukraine.
At the time, the IOC said that there were only eight athletes from Russia and three from Belarus who had qualified as neutral athletes for the Paris Olympics, which run from July 26 to Aug 11. AFP
