“We expect a decision within seven days on the participation of Russian competitors in Rio”, IOC media relations chief Emmanuelle Moreau told AFP.
Advertisement
The Independent Commission of the WADA chaired by Canadian lawyer McLaren released a report on Monday on the results of a probe into the accusations of doping and manipulation of tests by Russian athletes and officials at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games.
International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach describes the revelations as “a shocking and unprecedented attack” on sport.
The IOC has decided against a quick decision over whether to exclude Russia from Rio while it waits for legal advice over whether a ban would be enforceable as well as Thursday’s ruling from the court of arbitration for sport, which is separately considering whether 68 Russian track and field athletes should be allowed to compete in Rio.
Swimming’s world body FINA said: “FINA is also concerned that there has been a drive behind the scenes.to get a global coalition.to support the call for the total ban on Russian Federation”.
The CAS will rule on whether the IAAF had grounds to impose a blanket ban on a national federation, since such a suspension inevitably punished athletes with no positive drug test on their record.
The document concluded that Russia’s security services and Sports Ministry ran an elaborate “state-sponsored” doping program across dozens of sports for a number of years and had covered up doping at the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014.
CAS is due to rule on the dispute between Russian Federation, 68 of its athletes and the governing body of world athletics, after the country was banned from sending a track and field team to Rio.
The IAAF announced late last month that it amended the organization’s regulations in order to allow field and track athletes from Russian Federation to submit individual applications for global tournaments.
The Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee has today initiated disciplinary actions related to the involvement of officials within the Russian Ministry of Sports and other persons mentioned in the World Anti-Doping Agency’s “Independent Person Report” because of violations of the Olympic Charter and the World Anti-Doping Code.
Athletes, anti-doping officials and WADA itself have called for a total ban of Russian Federation for the Rio Olympics.
Russia’s Olympic Committee pressed on Wednesday with its preparations for the Rio Olympic Games despite the threat of a ban for state-run doping hanging over the country. “Boycotts lead only to the collapse of the Olympic movement. But we must go on, we can not lose Russian sport”, Mutko stressed.
“And I think this is an association that has been caught cheating so many times that something like this needs to happen for them to take a real look at what they’re doing, and to clean up their sport”.
But addressing the ban by the IOC of Russian sports administrators, he said he was ready to accept it because we have always been guests at the Olympics, and that the important issue was that the Russian Olympic team go to the games.
Advertisement
Yet the scope of the cheating already revealed means that the International Olympic Committee has a decision to make. Ban the Russians from Rio and let the world take note: There is no place for cheaters at the Olympics.
