MOSCOW, November 6. /TASS/. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said on Monday it has registered the appeal filed by the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) against the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) decision to suspend its membership in the organization.

"In its appeal to the CAS, the ROC requests that the Challenged Decision be set aside and that it be reinstated as a NOC recognized by the IOC, benefitting from all rights and prerogatives granted by the Olympic Charter," it said in a press release.

The CAS will set up a panel of arbitrators who will consider the case. After that, the court will proceed to further stages of the procedure, including hearings. However, according to the CAS, "it is not possible to indicate a time frame for the issuance of the decision" at this point.

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. The suspension means that the ROC cannot act as a national Olympic committee and receive financing from the Olympic movement. The IOC however reserved the right to clear Russian athletes for taking part in the Olympics Games in Paris in 2024 as neutrals. Later, IOC President Thomas Bach said that Russian athletes should have no relations to the ROC to be allowed to compete at the Olympic Games.

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.