The Russian Olympic Committee has lost an appeal against its suspension by the International Olympic Committee.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport said Friday that it had dismissed the ROC’s appeal against the suspension imposed in October. The IOC objected to the ROC incorporating four sports bodies representing regions of eastern Ukraine.
CAS said it found the IOC’s suspension “did not breach the principles of legality, equality, predictability or proportionality.”
The ROC can appeal to the Swiss supreme court.
The suspension removed the ROC’s right to receive funding from the IOC but has not affected any Russians who are competing in international sports as neutral athletes, including in many qualifying events for this year’s Paris Olympics, as part of an IOC-backed initiative.
Russia was first suspended by the IOC last year after 20 months of war in Ukraine.
The International Olympic Committee’s executive board imposed the suspension on the Russian Olympic Committee for a breach of the Olympic Charter — a book of rules and principles for international sports bodies — by incorporating sports councils in four regions in eastern Ukraine.
The suspension does not immediately affect any Russians who are returning to compete in international sports as neutral athletes, including in some qualifying events for this year’s Paris Olympics.
A month after the suspension, the Russian Olympic Committee appealed the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sports.
The suspension removes the right of the ROC to get a share of Olympic broadcast and sponsor money worth millions of dollars in each four-year Olympic funding cycle. Russian officials reportedly have been weighing legal action to access the money not being paid due to economic sanctions during the war in Ukraine.
The Associated Press contributed to this article.