Putin, addressing members of Russia’s Olympic team in the Kremlin, said that the decision by worldwide sporting organisations to ban some Russian athletes from the games, flew in the face of common sense and legality.
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The latest doping scandal to rock Olympic and Russian sport was triggered this month by Canadian law professor Richard McLaren for the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), whose report detailed an elaborate doping system directed by the Moscow sports ministry and used in more than 30 sports over four years.
ITTF believes that the provided evidence meets the requirements of the International Olympic Committee and confirms the eligibility of the three qualified Russian players Polina MIKHAILOVA, Maria DOLGIKH and Alexander SHIBAEV to play at Rio 2016. McLaren’s extended mandate reveals any potential anti-doping rule violation or wrongdoing, the ITTF will take immediate action to investigate and take sanction within the framework of the World Anti-Doping Code and the ITTF’s applicable regulations.
Addressing members of Russia’s Olympic team in the Kremlin on Wednesday, Putin said a decision by global sporting organisations to ban Russian track-and-field athletes and sportspeople in everything from swimming to rowing flew in the face of common sense and legality.
More than 100 Russian athletes, including the track and field squad, have been banned so far out of 367 candidates submitted to the governing bodies of individual sports federations for the games that begin August 5. “If you step out of line you won’t make the start line”.
The four other banned canoeists are Alexei Korovashkov-a 2012 bronze medalist in the C2 1,000 meters event-Andrei Kraitor, Elena Anyushina and Nataliya Podolskaya.
In all there are now 22 Russian rowers who have been excluded from participation in Rio. The others, according to a release Tuesday, did not meet standards set by the IOC.
Still awaiting their fate at the time of writing are three taekwondo fighters, three table tennis players, eight weightlifters, four badminton players and one golfer.
Meanwhile, volleyball player Alexander Markin told local media he had been dropped due to a positive test earlier this year for the banned substance meldonium, even though he had not been banned. She shed tears during the meeting as she told him that athletes’ dreams have been taken away.
On Monday, the IWF said it had requested “further clarification” from the International Olympic Committee and the World Anti-Doping Agency before its decision on which Russian athletes can be cleared to compete in Rio.
“It is an attempt to apply the rules which unfortunately dominate in geopolitics to the sporting world”, he said, hitting out at what he called “short-sighted political schemers”.
Previously, archery, tennis and equestrian sport’s world governing bodies said they had no objection to the Russians entered in their sports.
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The IOC refused to accept testing done by Russian agencies because of evidence that the process was corrupted.
