PERM, October 19. /TASS/. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) can longer guarantee protection of athletes’ interests after it decided to suspend the membership of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) in the organization, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Chernyshenko said on Thursday.
On October 12, the IOC suspended the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) until further notice after the Russian organization included the Olympic councils of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), the Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions as its members.
"There is a daily pressure on international sports organizations, whose independence is guaranteed by the Olympic Charter," Chernyshenko said said at the 11th International Forum 'Russia - Country of Sports' hosted by the Russian city of Perm this week.
"We see that when the Russian Olympic Committee included the Olympic councils of the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), the Zaporozhye and Kherson Regions as its members, the IOC immediately suspended the ROC’s membership," Chernyshenko, who oversees issues of sports, culture and tourism in the Russian government, stated.
"For us, it was another proof that there are no more guarantees regarding the protection of athletes’ interests," he added.
The International Sports Forum ‘Russia - Country of Sports’ has been held in various cities across Russia since 2009. This year the forum is hosted by Perm, the country’s second-largest city in the Urals, between October 19 and 22.
IOC sanctions against Russia
On February 28, 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued recommendations to international sports federations to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from taking part in international tournaments, citing Moscow’s special military operation in Ukraine as the reason.
Following the IOC’s recommendations in late February 2022, the majority of global sports federations decided to bar athletes from Russia and Belarus from all international sports tournaments.
In late March, 2023, the IOC recommended to permit individual athletes from Russia and Belarus to take part in international sports tournaments, but only under certain conditions. Specifically, athletes from the two countries should not be "actively supporting" Russia’s special military operation in Ukraine and must compete under a neutral status. Russia and Belarus were also banned from participating in international team events.