The International Olympic Committee resisted a blanket ban on Russia following the most recent explosive report by Canadian law professor Richard McLaren for the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), who detailed an elaborate doping scheme in Russian sports orchestrated by the government.
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The Canadian lawyer who accused Russian Federation of operating a state-run doping program is facing “a deluge of requests” for information on individual athletes implicated in his investigation.
Following the commission’s report last week, WADA recommended the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and all international sports federations ban Russian athletes from all international sports competitions, including Rio 2016.
Two Russian swimmers filed an appeal Saturday against their exclusion from the Rio de Janeiro Olympics, claiming the ban is “invalid” and “unenforceable”.
The two were barred from the games by swimming’s world governing body, FINA, in line with the new criteria for Russian athletes announced by the International Olympic Committee.
“Now, all the work is done by the IOC and worldwide federations”, he said.
McLaren said his mandate has been extended to finish the investigation and “identify any further athletes that might have benefited from such manipulation to hide positive doping tests”.
The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) is the latest to act, banning all Russian weightlifters on Friday from participating in the Games.
IOC President Thomas Bach, however, announced on Sunday that Russian athletes, with the exception of field and track competitors, were allowed to participate in the 2016 Summer Olympics based on individual approval of each respective worldwide sports federation or association.
“It has not been to establish anti-doping rule violation cases against individual athletes”, McLaren said, adding that it was not his job to process doping cases against individual athletes. Mutko said that Russian Federation is still expecting to hear final judgement on its swimming team Saturday.
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McLaren said his ongoing investigation includes developing evidence which may be used in the future to sanction individual athletes.
