MOSCOW, November 23. /TASS/. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) is likely to drag its feet regarding the appeal from the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) against the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) decision to suspend Russia’s membership, ROC Director General Vladimir Sengleyev said on Thursday.

"I am confident that the CAS will drag out its decision on this issue," the ROC official told journalists. "They are reluctant to listen to our cases. These are their machinations and we understand this."

On October 12, the International Olympic Committee (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 Swiss-based CAS registered on November 6 an appeal from the ROC against the IOC’s decision on the Russian governing Olympic body’s suspension.

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, Belarus

On February 28, 2022, the International Olympic Committee 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.

On July 26, 2023, the IOC extended invitations to the 2024 Summer Olympic Games in Paris to 203 National Olympic Committees. Russia and Belarus did not receive invitations. The IOC explained later that there was no deadline regarding the issue of Russian and Belarusian athletes’ participation.