BREAKING NEWS: Russia are SUSPENDED by IOC - but athletes could still compete at next year's 2024 Paris Olympics

• e-mail

Russian athletes could still participate at Paris 2024 despite the International Olympic Committee's decision to suspend the Russian Olympic Committee.

The IOC deemed the ROC had breached the Olympic charter by including as members regional sports bodies which are under the authority of the Ukrainian Olympic Committee.

The organisations they have incorporated are from four territories in eastern Ukraine - Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporizhzhia - which have been illegally annexed by Russia since its invasion of the country.

However, the IOC said they will 'reserve the right' to decide whether Russians can compete at next summer's Olympics as neutral athletes. They said a final decision will be taken 'at the appropriate time' and 'closer to the Games'.

The ROC was previously suspended by the IOC in 2017 because of the state-sponsored doping scandal, before that ban was lifted after the 2018 Winter Olympics.

The IOC said in a statement that the ROC's suspension related to its unilateral decision on October 5 

In March rival countries and protest groups called on Russia to be excluded entirely amid attempts by athletes to compete neutrally

The IOC said it reserves the right to decide about the participation of individual neutral athletes with a Russian passport 

They avoided suspension after their full-scale invasion of Ukraine began last year, but the IOC recommended no Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials take part in international competitions.

In March, however, the IOC told sporting federations they should allow athletes from those countries to compete again as neutrals - opening the door for them to take their place at Paris 2024.

Ukraine has threatened to boycott the Olympics if a full ban on Russian and Belarusians is not upheld.

The IOC said in a statement: 'The Russian Olympic Committee is suspended with immediate effect until further notice.

'The IOC reserves the right to decide about the participation of individual neutral athletes with a Russian passport in the Olympic Games Paris 2024 at the appropriate time.'

The International Paralympic Committee last month voted in favour of allowing Russian athletes to compete at next summer's Games.