The National Olympic Committee of Ukraine has filed a lawsuit with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to appeal the decision of the International Olympic Committee, which lifted restrictions on the participation of Russian athletes and teams in international competitions. This was reported by the NOC press service, according to UNN.
The National Olympic Committee of Ukraine, in close cooperation with the Ministry of Youth and Sports of Ukraine and with legal support from the law firm "Ilyashev & Partners," has officially initiated proceedings in the Court of Arbitration for Sport to appeal the decision of the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee of July 7, 2026, regarding the temporary restoration of the rights of the Olympic Committee of Russia
On Tuesday, July 28, the NOC of Ukraine filed an appeal with the CAS, requesting the annulment of the IOC decision as, in the opinion of the Ukrainian side, it contradicts the provisions of the Olympic Charter, the established practice of the CAS, and does not take into account the factual circumstances that led to the suspension of the membership of the Olympic Committee of Russia in 2023.
The position of the NOC of Ukraine is based on the fact that the IOC decision was made prematurely and without proper verification of whether the violations that led to the suspension of the Olympic Committee of Russia after the appeal of the NOC of Ukraine on October 6, 2023, have actually been eliminated. This primarily concerns interference in the territorial jurisdiction of the NOC of Ukraine by including sports organizations from the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine into the structure of the ROC
The appeal also emphasizes that the formal exclusion of regional Olympic councils from the membership of the ROC does not indicate the cessation of Russia's activities in the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine and does not mean the elimination of the violation itself. Moreover, after the IOC decision was made, the leadership of the Olympic Committee of Russia publicly stated that it continues to consider the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine as part of the Russian sports space, which, in the opinion of the NOC of Ukraine, contradicts the IOC's reasoning on the basis of which the decision to restore the rights of the ROC was made.
Filing the appeal is an important step for Ukraine in defending the principles of the Olympic Charter, international law, and the territorial integrity of our state in the international sports environment. The NOC of Ukraine will continue to consistently defend the rights of Ukrainian sports, using all legal mechanisms provided by international law to protect the interests of the state and the Ukrainian Olympic community
Recall
The International Olympic Committee has temporarily lifted restrictions on the Olympic Committee of Russia, which were imposed after the ROC included Olympic committees from the occupied territories of Ukraine into its structure.