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Russian athletes won't be barred from the Paris Olympics despite their country's suspension
The IOC says Russian athletes can be directly invited to next year's Paris Games despite the suspension of their country's Olympic committee
MUMBAI, India (AP) — Russian athletes can be directly invited to next year's Paris Games despite the suspension of their country's Olympic committee, the IOC said Friday.
International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach commented on the issue a day after the Russian Olympic Committee was suspended for violating the territorial integrity of its Ukrainian counterpart by unilaterally adding sports councils in four occupied regions as members.
Isolating the ROC, which now is blocked from getting millions of dollars in IOC revenue, won't affect the process of evaluating individual Russian athletes for neutral status to help them qualify for and compete at the Paris Olympics.
“These will be direct invitations which we will manage with international federations and, if needed, then with the respective national federations,” Bach said at a news conference.