The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC; Russian: Олимпийский комитет России (ОКР), romanized: Olimpiyskiy komitet Rossii (OKR); Full name: All-Russian united social union "Olympic Committee of Russia", Russian: Общероссийский союз общественных объединений «Олимпийский комитет России», romanized: Obshcherossiyskiy soyuz obshchestvennykh ob"yedineniy «Olimpiyskiy komitet Rossii») is the National Olympic Committee representing Russia. Its president is Stanislav Pozdnyakov. On 12 October 2023, the International Olympic Committee suspended the membership of the Russian Olympic Committee.
History
Russia's Olympic Committee was founded in 1911 by representatives of Russian Sports Societies at a meeting in Saint Petersburg, in the premises of the Imperial Russian Society for Saving on the Water (Sadovaya Street 50), when the Statute was adopted and members of the committee were elected.[citation needed]
In 1951–1992, the Russian Olympic Committee was essentially the Soviet Olympic Committee, based in Moscow.[2]
By decision of the Constituent Assembly on 1 December 1989, the All-Russian Olympic Committee was established as an independent public organization within the Soviet Olympic Committee. On 13 August 1992, it was officially named the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC). Full and final recognition of the ROC as the legal successor of the Soviet Olympic Committee by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was received at the 101st Session of the IOC in September 1992.[2]
2017–19
Headquarters of the OKR in Moscow; it was also the headquarters of the USSR Olympic Committee
On 5 December 2017, the Russian Olympic Committee was suspended by the IOC over its participation in a state-sponsored doping program.[3] It was banned from the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang and ordered to pay $15 million in costs for doping offences which IOC president Thomas Bach called an “unprecedented attack on the integrity of the Olympic Games and sport”.[4]
On 28 February 2018, following completion of doping test checks for Russian athletes who participated in the 2018 Winter Olympics, the IOC reinstated the Russian Olympic Committee, despite two failed drug tests.[5]
Since he was elected in May 2018, as Vladimir Putin's choice, former fencer Stanislav Pozdnyakov has served as the President of the Russian Olympic Committee.[6][7][8] He was re-elected in 2022.[9]
On 9 December 2019, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) banned Russia from all international sport for four years after it found that data provided by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency had been manipulated by Russian authorities with a goal of protecting athletes involved in its state-sponsored doping scheme. Russia filed an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against the WADA decision.[10] The Court of Arbitration for Sport, on review of Russia's appeal of its case from WADA, ruled on 17 December 2020 to reduce the penalty that WADA had placed. Instead of banning Russia from sporting events, the ruling allowed Russia to participate at the Olympics and other international events, but for a period of two years, the team was not allowed to use the Russian name, flag, or anthem and must present themselves as "Neutral Athlete" or "Neutral Team". The ruling did allow for team uniforms to display "Russia" on the uniform, as well as the use of the Russian flag colors within the uniform's design, although the name should be up to equal predominance as the "Neutral Athlete/Team" designation.[11]
2020–present
On 19 February 2021, it was announced that Russia would compete under the acronym "ROC", after the name of the Russian Olympic Committee. On aftermatch, the IOC announced that the Russian national flag would be substituted by the flag of the Russian Olympic Committee. It would also be allowed to use team uniforms featuring the logo of the Russian Olympic Committee, or the acronym "ROC" would be added.[12][13]
On 15 April 2021, the uniforms for the Russian Olympic Committee athletes were unveiled, featuring the colours of the Russian flag.[14][15] On 22 April 2021, the replacement for Russia's anthem was approved by the IOC, after an earlier choice of the patriotic Russian war song "Katyusha" was rejected. A fragment of Pyotr Tchaikovsky's Piano Concerto No. 1 is used.[16][17]
In September 2022, ROC president Stanislav Pozdnyakov urged Russian athletes to fight for Russia in Russia's war against Ukraine, saying the athletes should feel honored to do so.[18][19] He said: "From the point of view of the Russian Olympic Committee, we, being citizens of the country, consider service to the motherland is an honourable duty and an honourable duty of every citizen, including members of national teams."[19]
That month, Olympic synchronised swimming champion Anastasia Davydova quit her job as ROC secretary general in protest of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and fled to Dubai.[20][21]
In April 2023, Pozdnyakov expressed surprise that there was talk of Russian athletes losing motivation during their continued ineligibility to compete in major international events, as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.[22]
On 12 October 2023, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) issued a statement noting that after Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the ROC unilaterally transferred four regions that were originally under the jurisdiction of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine: Donetsk Oblast, Luhansk Oblast, Kherson Oblast, and Zaporizhzhia Oblast to the ROC; at the time, Pozdnyakov said "I don’t see any difficulties here."[23][24] The IOC stated that the ROC's unilateral action constituted a breach of the Olympic Charter because it violated the territorial integrity of the NOC of Ukraine, and further announced the immediate suspension of the membership of the ROC.[25][23] The IOC stated that as a result the ROC was no longer entitled to operate as a National Olympic Committee as defined in the Olympic Charter, and could not receive any funding from the Olympic Movement, and that as stated in the IOC's position and recommendations of 28 March 2023, the IOC reserved 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.[23]
Russian National Federations are the organizations that coordinate all aspects of their individual sports. They are responsible for training, competition, and development of their sports. There are 37 Summer Olympic and 12 Winter Olympic sport federations in Russia, all headquartered in Moscow.[citation needed]
Russia
