Russia Loses Appeal Against IOC Ban

Russia has lost its appeal against an International Olympic Committee (IOC) suspension for recognizing regional organizations from territories annexed from Ukraine, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said on Friday. The IOC banned the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) in October for recognising regional Olympic councils for Russianoccupied regions of Ukraine - Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia.

The suspension ensures the ROC will not be eligible for funding and will not be associated with the Olympic movement, but does not affect any decision on Russian athletes' participation at the Paris 2024 Olympics. At the time, the IOC said the move to recognise the regional Olympic councils constituted a breach of the Olympic Charter because it violated the territorial integrity of Ukraine's NOC.

"The IOC is pleased that the CAS confirmed the IOC Executive Board decision on 12

October 2023 to suspend the Russian Olympic Committee," the Olympic body said in a statement. "The IOC EB decision followed the unilateral decision taken by the ROC on 5 October 2023 to include, as its members, the regional sports organizations which are under the authority of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine, which constitutes a breach of the Olympic Charter."

"The IOC EB decision has been duly implemented since it was taken," the IOC said.

Russia, which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, which Moscow calls a 'special operation', has denounced the measure as politically motivated.