IOC urges federations to cancel sporting events in Russia or Belarus

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) requested all the International sports bodies and International Sports Federations to either relocate or cancel their scheduled matches in Russia or Belarus. IOC further urged the sports bodies to stop using the above mentioned countries' national anthems and flags.

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IOC requested the international Sports Federations a day post-Russia invaded Ukraine. The request also came after UEFA decided to relocate the Champions League final match from St. Petersburg to Suburban Paris and also after the governing body of skiing and Formula 1 stepped out from the upcoming matches from Russia. Angry and furious due to the Russian invasion and breaching of the Olympic truce, the IOC statement stated, "The IOC EB (executive board) today urges all international sports federations to relocate or cancel their sports events currently planned in Russia or Belarus. They should take the breach of the Olympic Truce by the Russian and Belarussian governments into account and give the safety and security of the athletes absolute priority."

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Russia invaded Ukraine on Thursday and breached the Olympic truce. This day is also four days post the closing ceremony of the 2022 Beijing Olympics. Interestingly this is not the first time Russia breached the Olympic truce. In fact, this was Russia's third time breaching the truce in the last 14 years. The first time was when Russia invaded Georgia during the 2008 Beijing Olympics. And the second time was at the end of the 2014 Sochi Olympics when they went to take conquer Crimea.