The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has decided to deprive the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) of its membership. Thus, the organization responded to the illegal inclusion of Olympic councils from the occupied territories of Ukraine in the ROC.

This is reported by the official website of the IOC. The committee said that Russia's inclusion of representatives of Donetsk, Luhansk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia regions into its Olympic Committee is unacceptable. The aggressor country was accused of violating the Olympic Charter and encroaching on the integrity of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine.

The IOC Executive Committee has suspended Russia's membership until further notice. The ROC will not only be unable to participate in IOC activities but also to receive funding.

"The IOC reserves the right to decide on the participation of individual neutral athletes with Russian passports at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games in due course. The IOC Executive Board also reserves the right to make any further decision depending on the development of this situation," IOC spokesman Mark Adams said.

Earlier, it was reported that Russia had filed a lawsuit against the IOC demanding almost nine million dollars for one of its marketing programs.

As reported by OBOZ.UA, the President of the ROC Stanislav Pozdnyakov accused international federations of "sports genocide " because of the suspension of Russian representatives from the competition. In turn, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, angrily demanded that the IOC help Russia "get away with" the war against Ukraine.

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