RUSSIA’S Olympic Committee has been suspended by the International Olympic Committee’s executive board, but no decision has yet been taken on whether individual athletes from the country will be allowed to compete at next summer’s games in Paris.

The IOC said in a statement that the ROC’s suspension related to its unilateral decision on October 5 to include as members regional sports organisations that are under the authority of the Ukrainian Olympic Committee.

These regional organisations are within territories annexed by the Russian military amid its invasion of Ukraine.

The IOC added: “The IOC reserves the right to decide about the participation of individual neutral athletes with a Russian passport at Paris 2024 and the winter games at Milano Cortina 2026 at the appropriate time.”

On March 28, the IOC set out recommendations which international sports federations could apply to enable Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete in their events under strict neutrality conditions.

These conditions included limiting it to individual athletes rather than teams of athletes, a ban on any athlete or support personnel who had expressed support for the invasion or were contracted to their country’s military or security forces.