Wednesday, September 8th, 2021
IOC: suspended until the end of 2022
North Korea excluded from the Olympics in Beijing
North Korea’s Olympic Committee will be banned from the Olympic community until the end of 2022. Because North Korea is the only country not to send athletes to the Summer Games in Tokyo, it has violated the Olympic Charter, explains the International Olympic Committee.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has suspended the National Olympic Committee of North Korea until the end of 2022. This means that the Asian country will not take part in the winter games in China’s capital Beijing (February 4 to 20, 2022). This was announced by IOC President Thomas Bach.
“The NOC of North Korea was the only one that did not take part in the Tokyo Olympics. The IOC executive has decided to suspend the NOC until the end of 2022 due to this unilateral decision,” said the 67-year-old at a press conference.
North Korea announced at the beginning of April that it would not send a team to Japan for fear of the corona pandemic. They wanted to “protect our athletes from the global public health crisis caused by Covid-19,” it said at the time. Pyongyang closed its borders early last year for fear of the virus being introduced.
“In due course” decision on athletes
In the months leading up to the Olympics, the IOC had “given assurances that the Games would be conducted safely and made constructive suggestions for an appropriate and tailored solution, including the provision of vaccines, up to the last minute,” said the Rings organization. These proposals were “systematically rejected” by the NOK of North Korea.
Rule 27.3 of the Olympic Charter states: “The NOCs have exclusive competence to represent their respective countries in the Olympic Games and in regional, continental or worldwide multisport competitions under the auspices of the IOC. In addition, each NOC is obliged to send athletes to participate in the Olympic Games. ” Should North Korean athletes qualify for the Winter Games in Beijing, the IOC will “make an appropriate decision in due course,” said Bach.
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