Australian Olympic chief John Coates on Saturday welcomed a ban on Russian track and field athletes from the Rio Olympics amid doping claims, and said other sports could be next.
Advertisement
“The IOC will initiate further far-reaching measures in order to ensure a level playing field for all the athletes taking part in the Olympic Games Rio 2016”, today’s IOC statement added.
On Saturday, the IOC Executive Board said it supported the anti-doping position of the IAAF.
Rune Andersen, chairman of the IAAF task force monitoring Russia, said the loophole for individuals had been created at the recommendation of lawyers who were mindful of possible court challenges; Russian athletes will have the opportunity to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Putin says “there can not be collective responsibility for all athletes or athletes of one federation if someone has been caught doping”.
Asked if Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko could be fired if the country’s athletes are barred from the Olympics, Peskov says “it’s not expedient to link this with the sports minister”.
He has also insisted there was no state-sponsored doping in Russian Federation.
But Moscow’s hopes of winning over doubters were likely dashed on June 15 when WADA released another report saying Russian athletes had continued to fail drug tests in large numbers and obstruct officials seeking to test them.
I dont have a message for the International Olympic Committee, said Coe, who will attend Tuesdays meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland.
“I guess I think about all the athletes in Russian Federation who aren’t doping, and now they can’t compete”, Eaton said after competing in the high jump at the Jerome.
As the result of a major doping scandal, Russia’s track and field team will not be allowed to compete in the summer’s Rio Games, the global governing body for track and field announced Friday.
The International Association of Athletics Federations said at its Council meeting in November that a report prepared by the All-Russian Athletics Federation on the struggle against doping was unsatisfactory and decided by a majority of votes to suspend Russia’s membership in the international athletics association.
“This is a very strong message from the IAAF to other sports”, said Reedie.
Pole vault queen Yelena Isinbayeva blasted Russia s Rio lockout as “a human rights violation” while Russian President Vladimir Putin described the ban as “unjust and unfair”.
Friday’s unanimous decision was the IAAF’s clearest statement against doping for years and a personal triumph for its president Lord Coe, but questions still surround his own history of fighting drugs cheats.
“I can confirm that the suspension remains in force and will refrain from all other commentaries”, ARAF Secretary General Mikhail Butov told TASS.
Advertisement
The deep-seated culture of tolerance, or worse, for doping that led RusAF being suspended in the first appears not to have changed materially to date, the IAAF said.
