IOC Executive Board suspends Russian Olympic Committee with immediate effect

This comes amid the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which has killed thousands of people across both nations.

"The unilateral decision taken by the Russian Olympic Committee on 5 October 2023 to include, as its members, the regional sports organisations which are under the authority of the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Ukraine (namely Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia) constitutes a breach of the Olympic Charter because it violates the territorial integrity of the NOC of Ukraine, as recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in accordance with the Olympic Charter," said a statement from IOC.

"In view of the above, the IOC Executive Board (EB) today decided that: -The Russian Olympic Committee is suspended with immediate effect until further notice. The suspension has the following consequences: 1). The Russian Olympic Committee is no longer entitled to operate as a National Olympic Committee, as defined in the Olympic Charter, and cannot receive any funding from the Olympic Movement. 2). As stated in the IOC's position and recommendations of March 28, 2023, which remain fully in place, the IOC reserves the right to decide about the participation of individual neutral athletes with a Russian passport in the Olympic Games Paris 2024 and the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 at the appropriate time," the statement continued.

"The IOC EB also reserves the right to take any further decision or measure depending on the development of this situation," concluded the statement.

On February 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. The invasion has killed tens of thousands on both sides. Russian forces have been accused of mass civilian casualties and of torturing captured Ukrainian soldiers.

The ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine continues to pound civilian targets. In a recent, Russian forces launched a strike on a residential building in Ukraine's Kharkiv, killing a 10-year-old boy and injuring 26 on Friday, Al Jazeera reported quoting the regional governor.

The Ukrainian forces claimed that over 25 out of 33 HESA Shahed 136 drones targeted Odesa, Kharkiv and five other regions in the country.

This came hours after the Russian missile strike, has resulted in the death of at least 50 people in a village near the eastern Ukrainian city of Kupiansk, marking one of the most devastating attacks on civilians since the conflict's onset, CNN reported. (ANI)