IOC never recognized annexation of Crimea – President Bach

This is reported by the official YouTube channel of the IOC.

Bach explained why the activities of the ROC (Russian Olympic Committee) were not suspended after the annexation of Crimea.

"They mentioned Crimea, they compared this situation with that one. But such a comparison cannot be made because the IOC has never recognized the annexation of Crimea. They asked why we hadn't imposed sanctions on them earlier, but we didn't recognize the annexation of Crimea. We didn't have time in 2016 when this issue arose, and we didn't have problems with the nationality of the athletes at the Rio Olympics," said IOC President Thomas Bach.

• On October 12, the International Olympic Committee suspended the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) for including into its membership some organizations from the occupied territories of Ukraine.