IOC Suspends Russian Olympic Committee Over Inclusion Of Organizations From Occupied Ukraine

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has suspended the Russian Olympic Committee over its decision to incorporate sports bodies in eastern Ukrainian areas that it occupies. Russia’s Olympic body is no longer entitled to operate as a National Olympic Committee and cannot receive any funding from the Olympic Movement, the IOC said on October 12. The move follows a decision by the Russian Olympic Committee to include regional sports organizations from the partially occupied regions of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk, and Zaporizhzhya. This constitutes a breach of the Olympic Charter because it violates the territorial integrity of Ukrainian Olympic Committee, the IOC said.