The European Olympic Committees (EOC) confirms that it will act in accordance with yesterday’s decision by the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to take a number of provisional measures against the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Belarus.

The measures include the suspension of all financial payments to the Belarus NOC, with the exception of payments related to preparations of Belarusian athletes for and their participation in, the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 and Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. All Olympic scholarships for Belarusian athletes will now be paid directly to the athletes, and no longer through the NOC.

The EOC, which for weeks has called on the Belarus NOC to live up to its obligations outlined in the Olympic Charter to ensure its athletes are not discriminated against for their political or any other views, welcomes the latest measures taken by the IOC and has immediately suspended any further payments to the NOC as requested by the IOC.

The EOC, which is the umbrella organisation for the 50 NOCs of Europe, has received a number of complaints from Belarusian athletes relating to politically motivated pressure from the NOC and its member federations.

We will continue to monitor the situation in Belarus closely while following the outcomes of the formal procedure started by the IOC vis-à-vis the NOC of Belarus on 25 November.

Read the IOC statement here.