CAS Dismisses Russian Olympic Committee’s Appeal Against IOC Suspension

By Riley Overend on SwimSwam

On Friday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) rejected the Russian Olympic Committee’s appeal against an indefinite suspension issued by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in October.

The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) lost access to IOC funding last fall after breaching the Olympic Charter by absorbing Olympic Councils in Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson, and Zaporizhzhia.

The CAS panel ruled that the IOC’s executive board “did not breach the principles of legality, equality, predictability or proportionality” in its decision.

The IOC has said that these sanctions against the ROC will not impact the ability of Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete as individual neutrals at the Paris 2024 Olympics, as long as they are not contracted with the military or supportive of the war in Ukraine.

Back in June, Russia absorbed 22 sports federations in its illegally annexed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) — including swimming — as part of an effort to “accelerate the integration of new regions into Russian sports life.” Last February, Russia recognized the DPR as a sovereign state, three days before invading Ukraine under the guise of protecting the region. Then last September, Russia used illegitimate referendums to annex the DPR and other occupied territories amid international condemnation.

Four Belarusian swimmers and no Russians competed in the pool at the 2024 World Championships last week in Doha, Qatar. They were barred from speaking with the media as part of their conditions for participation. Athletes from Russia and Belarus had been banned until World Aquatics tweaked its policy last September. Belarus let Russia use its territory for the February 2022 invasion, shortening the route to the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv.

The IOC announced a similar “neutral athlete” policy as World Aquatics in December, but it said that “only a very limited number” of Russian and Belarusian athletes will qualify as neutrals through the existing qualification systems of their federations. Among the 4,600 athletes who had qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics as of two months ago, there were just 11 individual neutral athletes approved: eight Russians and three Belarusians.

According to the United Nations, more than 10,000 civilians have been killed in Ukraine since Russia’s invasion. Last October, Ukraine’s minister of youth and sports said that 361 Ukrainian athletes and coaches have died in the war, adding that more than 3,000 others are currently fighting in the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Ukraine’s military claims that Russia has suffered more than 400,000 casualties over the past two years.

Related:

• Vladimir Salnikov Believes Russia’s Chances of Competing at Paris Are ‘Close to Zero’
• Russia Will Not Pay ‘Neutral’ Olympians for Paris 2024 Participation — Medals, Maybe

SwimSwam: CAS Dismisses Russian Olympic Committee’s Appeal Against IOC Suspension