Russia's appeal against suspension by International Olympic Committee dismissed
- Published
Russian athletes could only compete at the 2022 Winter Olympics - which took place prior to the invasion of Ukraine - as Team ROC because of a ban on Russia over doping violations
Russia's appeal against the International Olympic Committee's decision to suspend its membership has been dismissed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
The IOC suspended the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) "with immediate effect" in October for "a breach of the Olympic charter".
The ROC recognised regional organisations from four Ukrainian territories illegally annexed by Russia since its full-scale invasion began in February 2022.
The suspension by the IOC means the ROC is no longer entitled to operate as a national Olympic committee.
Cas said: "The Cas panel in charge of this matter 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 Cas 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."
Olympic councils from the regions of Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia had been recognised by the ROC.
The ROC said its suspension by the IOC was "another counterproductive decision with obvious political motivations".
"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 on Friday.
In December, the IOC announced that Russian and Belarusian athletes who have qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics will be allowed to participate as neutrals.
The conditions of their inclusion include competing without flags, emblems or anthems of their country.
The IOC had been under pressure to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes from competing at Paris 2024 and Ukraine had threatened to boycott the 2024 Games if the ban was not upheld.
IOC president Thomas Bach said in December that "individual athletes cannot be punished for the acts of their governments".
The 2024 summer Olympics will open in Paris on 26 July and close on 11 August.
Athletes from Russia and its ally Belarus will also be allowed to compete at the 2024 Paralympics as neutrals. In September, the International Paralympic Committee voted to partially suspend the national Paralympic committees of Russia and Belarus.
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