Ukraine’s National Olympic Committee has issued an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) move to provisionally reinstate Russia.
The IOC said its 2023 decision to suspend the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) was “no longer applicable”.
The move has opened the door for Russian athletes to compete for their country in the upcoming 2028 Olympics, with the IOC previously recommending in December 2025 that federations allow under-23 athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete.
The National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Ukraine has released a statement calling for the decision to be revoked.
It wrote: “The position of the NOC of Ukraine is based on the fact that the IOC’s decision was made prematurely and without proper verification of whether the violations – which led to the suspension of the ROC following the appeal by the NOC of Ukraine on October 6, 2023 – had actually been resolved.
“The NOC of Ukraine also points out that as early as 2024, the CAS [Court of Arbitration for Sport] confirmed the legality of the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee, recognising that the inclusion of sports organisations from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine violates the territorial integrity of the NOC of Ukraine and the provisions of the Olympic Charter.
“For this reason, the Ukrainian side believes that reinstating the ROC’s rights without effectively addressing these violations is incompatible with the principles of international sports law and sets a dangerous precedent for the entire Olympic Movement.”
Ukraine’s Olympic committee has launched an appeal against reinstating Russia
|
GETTY
Russian and Belarusian athletes participated as neutrals in the 2024 Paris Olympics and the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina.
The IOC’s move has also been condemned by Ukrainian athletes, with tennis star Marta Kostyuk labelling the decision as “terrible”.
She said: “My thoughts are that it’s terrible. I think it’s very, very far from fair play for all the countries involved here, not just for Ukraine.
“I 100 per cent don’t agree with this decision. I don’t think anything is going to change.
Russian and Belarusian athletes participated as neutrals in the 2024 Paris Olympics and the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina
|
GETTY
“I just want to go out there and hopefully beat every single Russian I play in the Olympics, and that’s it.”
Her comments came just after missiles struck near her family home, saying at Wimbledon that she was thinking about her friends and family.
Kostyuk continued: “It’s not easy to disconnect entirely.
“It was really tough for me last week when the first big attack happened. Then, on Monday, they ruined like four streets of residential buildings. It was like five kilometres away from where my parents live.
Marta Kostyuk has labelled the lifting of Russian athletes to compete at the Olympics as ‘terrible’ | PA
“Again, another difficult night and a lot of dead people, innocent people, kids. It’s not easy.
“I tried to be aware of everything that’s going on. Of course, I try [not to let] these things influence me too much. Every day is different. I cope with it as it goes.”
The Ukraine-Russia war has been raging on since February 2022, after Russian military forces invaded the European nation.
