PERM, October 19. /TASS/. The International Olympic Committee's (IOC) recent decision to suspend the membership of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) is beyond all imaginable and unimaginable boundaries, Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin 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.

"Our present-day reality can be described as the time of discrimination and political pressure," the minister said at the 11th International Forum 'Russia - Country of Sports' hosted by the Russian city of Perm this week.

"The IOC’s recent decision to suspend ROC’s membership is beyond all imaginable and unimaginable boundaries," the minister added.

Matytsin also said that Russia should not be severing its ties with the global sports society, despite the sanctions currently in place against the country.

The Russian sports minister also said that the country spends annually some 670 billion rubles (over $6.9 billion) in support of the physical culture and sports in Russia.

"We are once again living through the epoch of changes. This time it is the time for our country to overcome the pressure of sanctions," he said. "This is the time of choosing the path for the further development of the national sports system."

"Our industry employs more than 400,000 people, over 180,000 various organizations, and keeps operational more than 350,000 sports facilities, while the total amount of spending on physical culture and sports development, that comes from various sources, exceeds 670 billion rubles [over $6.9 billion]," he said.

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.

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.

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.