Russia is already paying a price for its aggression — countries around the world are imposing sanctions and the Russian ruble has plunged even further against the dollar, hitting record lows.
“The situation is monstrous, of course. This is a disgrace for the International Paralympic Committee,” said Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told reporters following the decision.
The IOC also announced that it had withdrawn the Olympic Order — the highest award of the Olympic movement — from Putin.
“The IOC was viewed as having a close relationship with Russia,” Michael Payne, former head of marketing at the IOC, told CNN.
“The fact that the IOC has now issued a set of sanctions to Russia, which, in my view, are probably the strongest sanctions the IOC has ever issued … since probably the early 60s when the IOC banned South Africa for its apartheid regime,” he said.
