IOC bans Ukrainian athletes from wearing black armbands

The International Olympic Committee has banned Ukrainian athletes at the Winter Olympics from wearing black armbands to commemorate the deaths of protesters and police in Kiev.

The country's athletes are competing today in alpine skiing, snowboard and biathlon.

Ukraine's Olympic association announced in a statement that they had asked the IOC if armbands could be worn, but the request has been turned down.

"The answer was received from the IOC that in accordance with the Olympic charter it is not possible to do this," the statement said.

Earlier in the Sochi Games, the IOC banned helmet sticker tributes to Canadian skier Sarah Burke, who died in an accident in 2012.