IOC suspends Russian Olympic Committee for incorporating Ukrainian sports regions

By GRAHAM DUNBAR
AP Sports Writer

GENEVA (AP) — The Russian Olympic Committee has been suspended by the IOC for breaching the Olympic Charter by incorporating sports bodies in four regions in eastern Ukraine. Russian Olympic officials provoked the dispute last week by accepting the councils in Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia as its members. The suspension does not immediately affect any Russians who are returning to compete in international sporting events as neutral athletes. The Russian Olympic Committee can challenge the IOC decision at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland.