Russian athletes to compete at Olympic Games in Tokyo, Beijing using ROC acronym

MOSCOW, Feb 20 -- Russian athletes will compete at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo and the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, using the acronym ‘ROC,’ but not the full name of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC), which will be forbidden, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said on Friday.

The emblem of the Russian Olympic Committee should include the colours of the Russian tricolor on a white background, it said. 

 "If the uniform includes the words ‘Russian Olympic Committee’, such wording should be removed all together or be replaced with the acronym ROC," reported Russian News Agency TASS quoting IOC. 

"If it was not possible to remove the words ‘Russian Olympic Committee’ or if the words ‘Russia’ or ‘Russian’ appear separately, "then the words ‘Neutral Athlete’ for example must be included in a position and size that is no less prominent," the IOC added. 

In accordance with the two-year sanctions of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) which came into effect last December, Russia’s national teams will have to compete at the world championships and Olympic Games without using their country’s symbols or playing the national anthem. 

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Switzerland’s Lausanne upheld on December 17 WADA’s previous ruling on a number of sanctions against Russian sports. 

According to the CAS decision, Russian athletes were deprived of their right to participate in all World Championships, Olympic and Paralympic Games under the national flag of Russia for the two-year period.            The national anthem of Russia was also ruled out to be played at international sport tournaments in the course of the next two years, including at the upcoming Olympic Games in Japan this summer and in China next year.

The ruling of the Swiss-based court also stripped Russia of the right to bid for the organisation of all international sports tournaments for the period of two years. WADA’s sanctions will be in force until December 2022.

-- BERNAMA