BERLIN (Reuters) – The International Olympic Committee on Sunday banned Guatemala’s Olympic Committee following the country’s failure to solve a domestic legal dispute, it said.
The IOC had warned last month that should the issue not be resolved by Oct. 15 the country’s national Olympic Committee would be banned.
“No solution could be found between the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Guatemala and the relevant authorities in Guatemala within the prescribed deadlines,” the IOC said in a statement.
The NOC has been at odds with the country’s Constitutional Court over some provisions in the Olympic body’s regulations.
The IOC suspension means Guatemala’s athletes cannot represent their country at the Olympic Games and the NOC is blocked from any IOC funding.
“In the interest of the athletes and the Olympic movement in Guatemala, the IOC has urged the NOC and the relevant authorities in Guatemala to meet and find an acceptable solution… which would allow the IOC Executive Board to lift the suspension of the NOC as soon as possible,” the IOC said.
Paris will host the next Olympic Games in 2024.
(Reporting by Karolos Grohmann; Editing by Toby Davis)
