Sports
Russian athletes will compete under the acronym ROC at the Tokyo Olympics this year as part of sanctions for several doping scandals, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Friday.
FILE PHOTO: Olympic rings depicted in front of the headquarters of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Lausanne, Switzerland, 26 January 2021. REUTERS / Denis Balibouse
BERLIN: Russian athletes will compete under the acronym ROC at this year’s Tokyo Olympics, as part of sanctions for several doping scandals, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Friday.
The full name of the Russian Olympic Committee cannot be used and the team’s flag will bear the committee’s logo, he said.
If the word Russian cannot be removed from the team uniform, the term ‘Neutral Athlete’ must be added.
“All public displays of names of organizational participants must use the acronym ‘ROC’, not the full name of” Russian Olympic Committee “, the IOC said in a statement.
The logo of the Russian Olympic Committee consists of three flames in the colors of the Russian national flag with the Olympic ring underneath.
Russian athletes are prohibited from competing under their flag and national anthem at the Tokyo Olympics as well as the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022 and world championships in all sports in 2021 and 2022 as part of sanctions issued by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
WADA initially banned Russia from the world’s top sporting event for four years in December 2019, but the duration of sanctions was halved to two years by a Swiss Court last year.
“The Russian Olympic Committee will submit the proposed musical scores to be played at all ceremonies,” the IOC said.
“This music must be approved by the IOC Executive Board.”
Russia’s doping affliction has been growing since a 2015 report commissioned by WADA found evidence of mass doping among the country’s track and field athletes.
Many Russian athletes have been absent from the last two Olympics and the country was stripped of its flag at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics as punishment for state-sponsored doping at the 2014 Sochi Olympics in southern Russia.
Russia, which has previously acknowledged some shortcomings in implementing anti-doping policies, denies running a state-sponsored doping program.
The Tokyo Olympics, postponed from last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, are scheduled to take place from July 23 to August 8.
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; editing by Clare Fallon)