Greek sailing champion Sofia Bekatorou led the parade of athletes at the Rio Olympics. The IPC is to announce its decision at a press conference in Rio on Sunday.
Advertisement
According to the details, the commission claimed it had found evidence that Russia’s Sports Ministry and the center for the Training of Russian National Teams and the Federal Security Service had covered up a doping programme in Russian sports.
The organisation, which runs the event for people with disabilities, met with Russian officials on Wednesday to hear their arguments against the ban.
Many of Russia’s Olympic and Paralympic athletes were tested at the same Moscow lab that’s been implicated in the doping scandal.
The Stepanovas said they believed the IOC’s focus on Yulia’s past doping sanction shifted the spotlight away from the real issue, which is that the IOC took no action against Russian Federation for punishing her for being a credible whistleblower by refusing to put her on Russia’s Olympic team.
However, the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Thursday said the IOC’s bid to exclude athletes based on previous sanctions “is unenforceable as it does not respect the athletes’ right of natural justice”. Unlike the International Olympic Committee, the IPC has been in touch with McLaren to seek further evidence and information.
India will aim to improve on their London Olympics tally of six medals, including two silver and four bronze.
The Paralympics will be held in Rio from September 7 through 18.
McLaren said this past week: “They have consulted with me very closely”.
The IPC president, Sir Philip Craven, is believed to view the decision as the most important and one of the most hard his movement has ever faced.
A report for WADA by Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren said there was a “state-dictated failsafe system” of cheating in Russian Federation. That investigation produced the 35 names of Russian para-athletes who had disappearing samples, the International Paralympic Committee said.
Advertisement
Another Russian cyclist Sergei Shilov will also take part in the Games.
