The International Olympic Committee (IOC) pushed back against criticism of its decision to provisionally lift the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) after nine European Union member states urged Brussels to cut funding for international sports organizations that have readmitted Russian and Belarusian athletes.
In a joint letter to European Commissioner for Sport Glenn Micallef, the nine countries called on the European Union to suspend financial support for organizations, including the IOC, World Aquatics and the International Fencing Federation, arguing that they had allowed Russian and Belarusian athletes to return to international competition.
The signatories were Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania and Sweden.
An IOC spokesperson told Reuters that the ROC's suspension, imposed in October 2023, was provisionally lifted earlier this month after the committee removed sports organizations based in Russian-occupied Ukrainian territories from its membership.
Their inclusion had prompted the IOC to impose the suspension.
