(TruthAndLiberty.com) – On Thursday the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced that the Russian Olympic Committee was going to be suspended from the Olympics as Moscow’s attempts to take over parts of Ukraine were in breach of the Olympic charter.
The committee specifically pointed out that the ROC had breached the charter through the incorporation of four Eastern Ukrainian governing bodies into the Russian committee. As they pointed out this was a violation of the NOC of Ukraine’s territorial integrity.
Donetsk, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia, and Kherson are the regions in Ukraine that are currently under Russian occupation with their sports governing bodies being taken over.
Previously the IOC’s executive board had suggested that all athletes from Belarus and Russia be barred from participating in the sporting event because of the Russian invasion. In July they had also announced that the two countries were not formally invited to the 2024 Olympics which are set to take place in Paris.
Still, athletes who held Belarusian and Russian passports are allowed to compete in the event as either neutral or individual athletes with the caveat that they have not issued statements supporting the war publicly. They are also barred from entering the team competition.
Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian President similarly called for the IOC to completely ban Russian athletes from participating in the Olympics arguing that terrorist states did not belong in the Olympic movement.
The IOC also pointed out that the vetting process for different events is going to be ongoing despite the ROC’s punishment.
Mark Adams, the spokesman for the IOC stated that the recent decision would not have any effect on independent athletes participating in the event.
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