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IOC suspends Russian Olympic Committee for ‘unauthorized integration with Ukrainian organization’

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The International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided on the 12th (local time) to suspend the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC)’s National Olympic Committee (NOC) status. The suspension takes effect immediately.

The IOC held an executive committee meeting prior to the 141st general meeting in Mumbai, India, and announced that it had decided to suspend the ROC. The IOC said that after Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year, the ROC violated the Olympic Charter by unauthorizedly integrating the Olympic committees of four Ukrainian regions, including Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhia, into its own organization.

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After Russia annexed four regions of Ukraine and declared them its own territory, the ROC absorbed and integrated 22 sports organizations in the Donetsk region, saying it would accelerate integration into Russian sports.

The IOC pointed out that the ROC’s merger of four regional sports organizations under the jurisdiction of the Ukrainian NOC violated the authority of the Ukrainian NOC and violated the Olympic Charter. Following the IOC’s decision, the ROC cannot function as a National Olympic Committee and cannot receive financial support from the IOC.

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However, the IOC added that this decision will not affect the participation of athletes from Russia and Belarus, which helped Russia invade Ukraine, at the 2024 Paris Olympics and the 2026 Cortina-D’Ampezzo Winter Olympics.

In March of this year, the IOC allowed athletes from Russia and Belarus, who are not military members, to participate in the 2024 Paris Olympics as individuals by being organized into a neutral organization. However, neutral organizations cannot use the flags or national anthems of Russia or Belarus. However, there are many voices calling for them to be banned from participating in the Olympics even if they belong to neutral organizations, so the IOC is withholding its final decision.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, “The IOC’s decision reflects the need for universal respect for the United Nations Charter and the territorial integrity of nations. “Russia’s plan to use sports and the Olympics as a weapon will not work,” he said.

On the other hand, Russia opposed the decision to suspend ROC, saying it was a measure taken for political reasons and would only harm the global sports landscape.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mariya Zakharova argued, “Double standards (towards Russia) and deliberate segregation based on ethnicity are a blatant violation of the rights and ultimately human rights of Russian athletes.”

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Song Chi-hoon,

Source: Donga

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