IOC recommends banning Russian, Belarusian athletes from worldwide occasions, Olympic order withdrawn from Putin

The International Olympic Committee’s government board has advisable that worldwide sports activities federations ban Russian and Belarusian athletes and officers from competing in occasions, the IOC mentioned on Monday, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The IOC mentioned the chief board made the choice “in order to protect the integrity of global sports competitions and for the safety of all the participants”.

The Russian Olympic Committee categorically disagreed with the IOC, saying the choice “contradicts both the regulatory documents of the IOC and the (Olympic) Charter”.

“As a first step, we consider it necessary to send requests to international federations for an official response on the status of Russian athletes and their rights to participate in international competitions due to the fact that it is the… federations that have the authority to admit athletes to international competitions in the respective sport,” the ROC mentioned in a press release.

“For its part, the Russian Olympic Committee intends to consistently uphold the rights and interests of Russian athletes and provide all necessary assistance to our national federations to challenge discriminatory decisions of the relevant international federations.”

The assertion from IOC comes shortly earlier than the Winter Paralympics, which begins in Beijing on Friday. The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) will meet on Wednesday to debate Russia forward of the Games.

IOC’S STATEMENT ‘FALLS SHORT’

Athletes from Ukraine and different nations have urged the IOC and IPC to droop Russia and Belarus ban their athletes from occasions instantly. Read full story

The Global Athlete motion, which goals to empower athletes, mentioned IOC’s assertion “falls short”.

“The #IOC refuses to fully suspend the Russian & Belarus NOC,” it mentioned on Twitter. “The #IPC needs to immediately suspend the Russian and Belarus Paralympic Committees @Olympics @Paralympics athletes have seen these PR stints in the past.”

The IOC additionally strongly urged federations to make sure that no athlete or sports activities official from Russia or Belarus could be allowed to participate underneath the title of Russia or Belarus.

“Russian or Belarusian nationals, be it as individuals or teams, should be accepted only as neutral athletes or neutral teams. No national symbols, colours, flags or anthems should be displayed,” the assertion added.

However, the board mentioned that in very excessive circumstances, the board would go away it to the related organisations to successfully deal with the dilemma.

“In this context, the IOC EB considered in particular the upcoming Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 and reiterated its full support for the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and the Games,” the assertion added.

OLYMPIC ORDER WITHDRAWN FROM PUTIN

The IOC reiterated its suggestion to not organise any sports activities occasion in Russia or Belarus.

The IOC additionally mentioned it had taken the advert hoc choice to withdraw the Olympic Order, the very best honour granted by the IOC, from all individuals who at the moment have an necessary operate within the authorities of the Russian Federation, together with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

It mentioned it made the choice primarily based on “the exceptional circumstances of the situation and considering the extremely grave violation of the Olympic Truce and other violations of the Olympic Charter by the Russian government in the past”.

Ukraine’s well being ministry mentioned on Sunday that 352 civilians, together with 14 kids, had been killed since Russia’s invasion of the nation final week. Belarus has been a key staging space for the invasion.

Russia calls its actions in Ukraine a “special operation”.