The Court of Abitration for Sport (CAS) on Thursday upheld the ban against Russia’s athletics federation – but was careful to stress that it could not decide what this would mean for next month’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
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Separately, the International Olympic Committee is considering calls to ban all Russian competitors across all sports from the Olympic Games following a second report into state-sponsored doping.
The executive board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will now take a final decision on the issue of the Russian athletes’ participation in the Rio Olympics on July 24.
The IOC is examining the legal options of a blanket ban following a report by WADA investigator Richard McLaren that accused Russia’s sports ministry of overseeing doping of athletes.
More than 60 track and field athletes from Russian Federation have had their bid for an appeal rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, dealing another blow to their hopes of participating in the Summer Olympics in Rio next month.
The IAAF’s anti-doping department had rejected personal applications from all Russian athletes for participation in global competitions, including the Rio Olympics, except for long jumper Darya Klishina, who lives in the United States. With the track ban upheld, however, the option remains open.
CAS said the rule, adopted on June 17, “left practically no possibility for the athletes to comply with the criteria”.
Commenting on the CAS’ ruling, IAAF President Sebastian Coe said,”While we are thankful that our rules and our power to uphold our rules and the anti doping code have been supported, this is not a day for triumphant statements”.
The Games begin on 5 August. The IOC has scheduled another board meeting on Sunday to consider the issue.
Speaking at the launch of his documentary about South African swimmer Chad le Clos, “Unbelievable”, Pinsent said: “I hope they’ll take courage from the fact there will not be a legal comeback to these decisions”.
It’s the latest in a long line of upsets for the Russian squad, stemming from the discovery of systematic, state-sponsored doping within its ranks.
An IAAF rule to create Olympic exceptions for a select few Russian athletes caused unease for the appeal judges.
“Now it is for the International Olympic Committee to determine if these athletes can be confirmed or not”, he said. “The full Arbitral Award, including the grounds for the Panel’s decision, will be issued as soon as possible”.
The Kremlin expressed “deep regret” over the move and said that it was unfair to ban all athletes from competing at the Games. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists that Russian Federation did not consider “the idea of collective responsibility” to be an acceptable form of punishment.
Following the ruling, sports minister Mutko said the Cas decision had set “a certain precedent” by punishing a collective group for doping offences by individuals.
On June 17, the IAAF council ruled to extend the suspension of the All-Russia Athletics Federation (ARAF) from all worldwide tournaments, including the 2016 Olympics. “It is our federation’s instinctive desire to include, not exclude”.
ARAF president Dmitry Shlyakhtin said that Russian athletes have now lost all chances of participating in the Olympics.
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The IAAF ban covers all worldwide competition, including the Rio Games which start August 5, and follows an investigation previous year which found widespread “state-sponsored” doping.
