IOC Suspends Russian Olympic Committee: Athletes to Compete under Neutral Flag

The International Olympic Committee has halted the activities of the Russian Olympic Committee. This decision was made on October 12, 2023 and was immediately put into effect. 

The official website of the executive committee of the International Olympic Committee directly writes that the Russian branch stops its activities indefinitely. Now Russia has no right to act as the face of the national Olympic committee and receive financial resources from the movement.

In its decision, the executive committee referred to the position and the Resolution of March 28, 2023. It is the international office that will decide the fate of athletes under a neutral flag, which is what Russian athletes have used so far. This selection of athletes with a Russian passport will take place for the qualifiers for Paris 2024 and the 2026 Winter Olympics. 

This is a logical response to Russia’s illegal actions of October 5, 2023 to recognize regional sports organizations of Ukrainian territories as their national ones. The Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhya Olympic Committees will not receive funding because of the illegal attempted annexation by the Russian side. 

The Executive Committee of the International Olympic Committee explicitly stated that the decision was made because of the violation of the territorial integrity of the Ukrainian sports committee. These actions were taken in accordance with the Olympic Charter. 

Also, the International Olympic Committee stated that this legally enshrines the de facto restrictions that were adopted in February 2022. At the same time, the IOC said that athletes should not be penalized for the governments’ actions, so they gave them a chance to show themselves under neutral status.