“It’s obvious that the absence of Russian competitors – leaders in many disciplines – markedly lowers, and will lower the intensity of the fight and that means the spectacle at the upcoming events”, he said in a speech.
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A near-diplomatic incident – as Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes termed it – came to an end on Wednesday at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
More than 100 Russians from the 387-strong Olympic team have been banned so far from going to Rio de Janeiro.
He said: “The deliberate campaign targeting our athletes was characterised by so-called double standards and opted for the idea of collective responsibility, which is not compatible with sport, justice in general, or the basic norms of law”.
“The situation went beyond the legal field as well as common sense”, Putin told the audience, which included numerous banned athletes.
Russian track and field athletes who have been banned from the Rio Olympics are victims of a “deliberate campaign”, Vladimir Putin has claimed.
The IFF says 197 tests taken from Russian athletes in 35 countries over the last two years were all negative.
Thomas Bach, president of the International Olympic Committee, is confident problems in the Olympic Village will be resolved and said he expects Rio to put on a “great” Games when he arrived in Brazil on Wednesday.
The FIE did not respond to questions from The Associated Press about whether WADA investigator Richard McLaren’s evidence was considered before deciding to allow Russian fencers to compete in Rio.
“They have all been tested outside of Russian Federation”, the ITU said in a statement.
A second WADA-funded report by Canadian law professor Richard McLaren published last Monday revealed even further, state-directed doping, this time encompassing nearly all Olympic and Paralympic sport in the country. “Therefore, ITU will recommend to the International Olympic Committee that these six athletes be permitted to compete in Rio next month”. The International Association of Athletics Federation imposed a total ban in November, which was upheld by the Court of Arbitration for Sport last week.
Bach fired back that the decision to leave individual sports federations to decide which Russians could compete “respects the right of every clean athlete around the world”, noting that would-be Russian Olympians must clear “the highest hurdles” to make the Games.
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This story has been corrected to show that Isinbayeva’s first name is Yelena, not Irina.
