Laussane: The International Olympic Committee’s first executive board meeting following the Tokyo Olympic Games made the decision to suspend North Korea’s National Olympic Committee (NOC) from the Olympic movement until the end of 2022.
The suspension was due to North Korea’s unilateral withdrawal from the just-completed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. The country did not send a delegation to the Tokyo Olympics, citing a desire to safeguard its athletes from the Covid-19 virus.
According to the verdict, the country will not receive any monetary support that had been held back due to international sanctions in the past. And as a result of the suspension, the country will also be unable to participate in the Beijing Winter Olympics.
IOC president Thomas Bach said at a virtual press conference following the EB meeting that the IOC will decide on the destiny of North Korean athletes, but that the athletes will not suffer as a result of the decision.
“The accrued financial support from the IOC, that was due to be allocated to the PRK NOC but had been withheld due to international sanctions, will be definitively forfeited, given that the PRK NOC did not contribute to the success of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020. The PRK NOC will not be entitled to benefit from any assistance or program from the IOC during the period of suspension,” the IOC president said.
Meanwhile, IOC is keeping a close eye on the situation involving Afghan women and girls participating in sports and will make a decision based on the Olympic Charter. And the governing body has assisted nearly 100 members of the Olympic community in Afghanistan in obtaining humanitarian visas to leave the Taliban-controlled country.
All Afghan athletes who competed in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and Paralympics are safe and out of the country, according to Bach. As of now, the NOC and IOC representative from Afghanistan, Samira Asghari, are coordinating measures to ensure the safety of members of the Olympic community, according to the statement.
The IOC has opted to only recognize and affiliate with Afghanistan’s existing NOC, which was “democratically elected in 2019,” and will not recognize any other Taliban-installed organization.
The IOC also stated that it will provide financial assistance to Afghan athletes who competed in the Tokyo Olympics so that they can prepare for future competitions.
Despite the increased number of Covid-19 cases in Tokyo and Japan, Bach declared the Tokyo Olympics were a success because there was no evidence that the Olympics had contributed to the increase in cases.
 has suspended North Korea until the end of 2022 after it failed to send a team to the Tokyo Games.){kind=link}