CAS Rejects Russian Olympic Committee Appeal against IOC
The Court of Arbitration for Sport on Friday dismissed an appeal filed by the Russian Olympic Committee against its suspension of membership by the International Olympic Committee.
The IOC executive board last October suspended the ROC “with immediate effect until further notice.” The IOC’s decision was less directly about Russia’s belligerence toward Ukraine, an invasion launched nearly two years ago, but the incorporation by the ROC of sporting bodies formerly under the Ukraine national Olympic committee’s sovereignty. (They include the regions of Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia.)
From Friday’s decision:
The CAS Panel in charge of this matter dismissed the appeal and confirmed the Challenged Decision, finding that the IOC EB did not breach the principles of legality, equality, predictability or proportionality.
The ROC has the right to appeal to a Swiss federal tribunal (on limited grounds) within 30 days. Otherwise, the decision by CAS is final.
Friday’s decision doesn’t meaningfully change Russia’s international status. The IOC, last December, allowed a limited number of individual Russian and Belarussian athletes to qualify for the Paris Olympics under strict conditions. Those athletes would have to swim at individual neutral athletes, without flags or anthems, and Russia is barred from qualifying teams to the Paris Olympics. The IOC also will not allow Russians or Belarussians who have actively supported the war against Ukraine or are involved in the military.
