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Russian sailor Sozykin cleared to compete in Rio Olympics

The International Boxing Association (AIBA) has revealed that all 11 Russian boxers it approved for Rio 2016 have been given the green light to compete by the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) three-person panel.

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‘They were considering a decision I was part of, so I was pleased with that, ‘ Coates said. “Whoever responds to a violation of the law with another violation of the law is destroying justice”.

One of those cases, Nikita Lobintsev and Vladimir Morozov versus swimming’s governing body FINA, has already been heard and is now being considered by the three-person International Olympic Committee panel that will make the final decision on the eligibility of all Russian athletes.

Olympics chief Thomas Bach called for a complete overhaul of the global anti-doping system on Tuesday (Aug 2) after revelations of state-backed cheating by Russian Federation rocked preparations for the Rio Games.

More than 100 Russians, including the track and field team, have been banned from the Games and more than 250 have so far been cleared to compete by the federations.

But both sides agreed on one thing – the need to fix the global anti-doping system and restore trust and credibility in the fight against drugs.

“You can not punish a human being for the failures of his or her government if he or she is not implicated”.

Pressure for a full ban grew after WADA investigator Richard McLaren issued a report accusing Russia’s sports ministry of orchestrating doping program and cover-ups involving athletes across more than two dozen summer and winter Olympic sports. It said that if this is successful it will start a new case on behalf of eight weightlifters banned from the Olympics. It delegated individual sports to take action against athletes from the country. The political and economic crisis in the country is unprecedented. “Rio de Janeiro would not be where it is today, without the Olympic Games as a catalyst”. The policy eliminated the presumption of innocence and instead requires Russian athletes to prove that they have not violated anti-doping rules.

In a bullish address here, Bach said the uncovering of Russia’s widespread doping had shown up deficiencies in the current system run by the World Anti-Doping Agency. AIBA said in a statement.

“I think it’s not the reputation of the International Olympic Committee that has to be restored, it’s the reputation of WADA”, he said. “We thought in all honesty we needed to just explain the position and what we tried to do”.

“It’s unfortunately just before the Games”, Reedie told the AP. “It’s all perfectly civilized”.

Underlying the deep split between Olympic leaders and anti-doping officials, Bach and others put the responsibility on WADA.

The Olympic leadership was “very close” to naming the final figure, IOC spokesman Mark Adams said.

“Engagement and not isolation is the key to build a more robust anti-doping system”, he said.

Russian Federation turned out in force to see their flag raised over the athletes’ village in Rio on Wednesday.

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WADA said it acquired strong evidence of Russian state involvement in early May, when CBS’ “60 Minutes” and The New York Times published allegations by Moscow’s former lab director, Grigory Rodchenkov.

Getty Images       Bach claims IOC right not to take 'nuclear option&#039