The International Olympic Committee said on Sunday it will not impose a blanket ban on Russian Federation for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
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The International Olympic Committee (IOC) failed to demonstrate “decisive leadership” when it declined to ban all Russian athletes from the Rio Olympics, the chief executive of the US Anti-Doping Agency (Usada) said on Sunday.
It means that Russian Federation is likely to have entrants in events such as tennis and swimming but not athletics, and follows claims that the hosts ran a state-sponsored doping programme at the Sochi Winter Games in 2014.
President Thomas Bach gives a news conference after the Olympic Summit on doping in Lausanne, Switzerland, June 21, 2016.
“The decision made by the IOC was balanced; based on the report of the WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) independent commission, it is objective and benefiting global sport and unity of the Olympic family”.
Russian Federation has already been handed a doping punishment when its track and field team lost an appeal against a ban on Thursday.
That decision was upheld by the court of Arbitration for Sport on Thursday. Any Russian athletes accepted for Rio will be subject to a rigorous additional testing programme.
The IOC rejected calls from the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) and dozens of other anti-doping bodies to exclude the entire Russian Olympic team following allegations of state-sponsored cheating.
FISA announced in a statement the “first stage” of its executive committee’s decision on Russian Federation, with a “final assessment” to be made on Tuesday following the individual analysis of each athlete’s anti-doping record.
While that could curtail Russia’s participation in the Rio Olympics, it means that the exact number of participants and medal hopefuls representing the nation could remain in flux until days before the opening ceremony, which is scheduled for Aug 5.
That report, produced by Canadian law professor Richard McLaren, described a campaign of doping and cover-ups over a span of time that centers on the Sochi Winter Olympics hosted by Russian Federation in 2014.
“The approach taken and the criteria set forward will inevitably lead to a lack of harmonization, potential challenges and lesser protection for clean athletes”, WADA Director General Olivier Niggli said.
“This is a very ambitious timeline, but we had no choice”, Bach said.
The International Olympic Committee had been urged by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and others to take decisive action amid an ever-widening cheating scandal in Russian Federation.
With only one Russian eligible for the track and field competition and the weightlifting team on the brink of being banned, Russia’s hopes of fielding anywhere near the 387 athletes they announced last week are diminishing rapidly.
It had also ordered the immediate re-testing of all Russian athletes from the Sochi Olympics, as well as a full inquiry into the alleged doping cover-ups, instructing all worldwide winter sports federations to halt preparations for major events in Russia. Also, Sports Ministry officials involved in the alleged state-sponsored doping scandal will not be accredited for Rio.
“The ITF believes that this is sufficient for the seven Russian tennis players to meet the relevant requirement of today’s decision of the IOC Executive Board”.
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Travis Tygart was not pleased.
