The Russian Olympic Committee’s appeal has been rejected by the International Olympic Committee, which refused to end the nation’s suspension.
Under the terms of its suspensions, Russian athletes cannot compete at the Paris Olympics under their own flag. Instead, they can only participate under a neutral banner.
The Court of Arbitration for Sports moved to dismiss the nation’s appeal on Feb. 23 and found that the IOC’s October ruling may remain in effect, finding that the governing organization “did not breach the principles of legality, equality, predictability or proportionality.”
“The CAS Panel’s decision is final and binding except for the parties’ right to file an appeal to the Swiss Federal Tribunal within 30 days on limited grounds,” the cohort noted in its statement. A full copy of the decision has not yet been released.
The IOC has accused the ROC of violating the Olympic Charter by incorporating four sports organizations in eastern Ukraine including Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia. The organization has barred the ROC from receiving any funding from the Olympics and prohibits it from operating as a National Olympic Committee.
The ROC called the October ruling “another counterproductive decision with obvious political motivations,” per the BBC. The national sports organization filed an appeal the following month.
Now, the ROC says the Court of Arbitration ignored its arguments and that its ruling largely copies the IOC’s claim.
“This CAS ruling is yet more evidence that civil and sports discrimination directed against Russians has reached an unprecedented scale in the run-up to the Games in Paris,” the ROC said in a statement, per AP News. The group said the court “confirmed that the Olympic team of Russia, Russian athletes and officials will not take part in the Games of the XXXIII Olympiad in Paris, just as it excluded any possible cooperation by the ROC with athletes who the IOC recognizes as meeting the criteria of so-called neutrality.”
It is not clear if the Russian organization will appeal to the Swiss supreme court.
The Paris Olympics will be held from July 26 to Aug. 11.
Ukrainian officials have expressed concerns about Russian athletes supporting or justifying “aggression against Ukraine.” Russia invaded Ukraine in February of 2022.
Vadym Guttsait, the president of the Ukrainian Olympic Committee, sent a letter to IOC President Thomas Bach on Feb. 8 warning that the number of athletes who have shown support for the Russia-Ukraine war has "increased significantly" in the last year.
Ukraine’s Minister of Youth and Sport Matviy Bidnyi suggested it may not send a delegation of athletes to the Summer Olympic games during an interview in December 2023 because Russian and Belarussian athletes may participate albeit not under their own flag.
"First of all, we are not using the word boycott as such,” Bidnyi said, per Inside The Games. “We are saying that this is our position: We will not take part in the competition if athletes who support Russian aggression are allowed to participate. This is a matter of principle for us.”
