The Russian Olympic Committee appealed to the court in Lausanne against the IOC's suspension

The Russian Olympic Committee appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne against the suspension imposed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for the annexation of Ukrainian sports councils.

CAS announced today that it has registered an appeal, but that it is not possible to indicate a time frame for the verdict of its panel. The hearing is likely to be held in Lausanne, where CAS and the IOC are based.

The legal dispute should not affect Russian athletes preparing to qualify for and participate in next summer's Paris Olympics.

In October, the IOC suspended the Russian Olympic Committee until further notice after that body recognized the regional committees of the four Ukrainian territories annexed by Russia - Luhansk, Donetsk, Kherson and Zaporozhye.

Due to the war in Ukraine, Russian and Belarusian athletes were suspended from international competitions last February.

In March, the IOC recommended that individual athletes return to competitions under a neutral flag and under strict conditions, including that they did not support the war in Ukraine.

After the suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee, athletes can still participate in the Games, if they qualify and are directly invited by the governing body of their sport, bypassing the Committee.

The suspension removes the right of the Russian Olympic Committee to receive a portion of the Olympic broadcasting and sponsorship money worth millions of dollars in each four-year Olympic funding cycle.

Russian officials are reportedly considering legal action to access money that has not been paid due to economic sanctions during the war in Ukraine.