IOC President Thomas Bach has defended the decision to suspend Russia’s NOK – while the athletes can continue to hope for their start in Paris. “We follow our principles. We will not punish or sanction athletes for the actions of their officials or governments. Our job is to protect athletes,” said Bach after the IOC executive meeting in Mumbai on Friday.
The panel had banned the ROC the day before. The IOC stated that the National Olympic Committee of Russia had violated the Olympic Charter by accepting sports organizations from the annexed Ukrainian regions of Kherson, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk and Luhansk.
Bach left it unclear when a decision would be made about the start of the “neutral” athletes from Russia at the 2024 Summer Games in Paris. There is “no time pressure,” he said: “We reserve the right to invite individual neutral athletes with Russian passports. This means that the ROC plays no role.”
Bach defended himself against accusations that the recommendations for the return of previously banned Russian and Belarusian athletes had created a “patchwork quilt” within the Olympic qualifications. The competitions ran “smoothly,” said Bach, and the qualifications of the professional associations were always different anyway. IOC sports director McConnell spoke of a “vast majority” of associations that are on track to include Russians and Belarusians in Olympic qualification by the beginning of 2024 at the latest.
In March, the IOC recommended that world associations reintegrate Russian and Belarusian athletes who were excluded after the attack on Ukraine into competitions under certain conditions. Politicians, officials and athletes, especially from Europe, criticized the IOC’s stance.