Russia’s doping ban from athletics won’t affect its Paralympians, the International Paralympic Committee said on Monday.
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Two Russian athletes said Sunday they have appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to overturn the IAAF’s ban on the Russian team competing in Olympic track and field.
But CAS President and International Olympic Committee (IOC) vice-president described the Russian testing system as “rotten to the core” last week, suggesting that CAS will not view the appeals sympathetically.
The All-Russia Athletic Federation’s suspension from worldwide competitions, including the Olympics, was upheld last week by the IAAF.
Last week’s damning WADA update on the current status of anti-doping in Russian Federation was probably the final nail for the athletics team’s hopes of overturning its ban, but equally damaging has been the news leaking from the investigation into claims Russian Federation ran a state-sponsored doping programme at and before the 2014 Winter Olympics. If it uncovers further widespread, state-backed cheating in Russia, WADA could push for further action against Russia.
Reedie would not confirm that WADA would definitely call for a total ban on the country but he told Reuters: “If it comes back like that, we have to say something serious”.
“I can’t answer that question because I don’t have full information and I await to see what happens at the Olympic summit [in Lausanne] tomorrow, when those authorities who do have that power to make those decisions will presumably be discussing them”. However, even in that case they would not be able to compete under the national Russian flag.
Russian president Vladimir Putin has labelled the ban “unjust and unfair” while pole vault star Yelena Isinbayeva repeated her threat to sue the IAAF and the International Olympic Committe for an infringement of her human rights if prevented from competing.
There is “systematic and systemic doping rooted in many parts of [Russian] society”, Andersen said.
McLaren’s report will be completed by July 15, two weeks before the start of the Olympics, but if it is bad as many are now predicting Russian Federation might consider itself fortunate to have any competitors in Rio, whether they are wearing neutral kit or not.
The IOC said it “welcomes and supports” and “fully respects” Friday’s ruling by track and field’s world governing body to maintain its ban on Russian Federation because of widespread doping.
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Also invited are the four IOC vice presidents, U.S. Olympic Committee chair Larry Probst and representatives of global federations and national Olympic bodies.
