“Tragically, this situation is not about athletes cheating a system, but about a state-run system that is cheating the athletes”, said Sir Philip Craven, IPC President, in a statement.
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The IPC acted in the wake of a report commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency and written by Richard McLaren regarding a staggering level of state-sponsored, organized doping across the Russian sports system. His report followed an earlier investigation into doping cover-ups in Russian track and field.
The Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC) never received proofs on doping allegations made in the McLaren report, President of the Russian Paralympic Commitee Vladimir Lukin said Sunday.
The Russian Paralympic Committee will reportedly appeal against the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
The International Paralympic Committee announced at a news conference that Russian Federation would be kicked out of its Games, which will run after the conclusion of the Olympics, from September 7-18.
The global committee said it will begin working with the worldwide sporting federations to figure out how the 267 slots that had been allotted to Russian Paralympic athletes across 18 sports will be redistributed to other nations.
Paralympic leaders expelled one of its most significant members as the International Olympic Committee announced that 278 Russians have been given clearance to compete at the Olympics after their eligibility in Rio de Janeiro was left to individual sports.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that IPC had opened suspension proceedings following the McLaren report, and has now confirmed the ban. The Russian government has failed its athletes.
The IPC allowed the Russian Paralympic Committee to present its case before it decided on the ban.
“The medals over morals attitude disgusts me”.
“It shows a blatant disregard for the health and wellbeing of athletes and, quite simply, has no place in Paralympic sport”.
Craven said there had been nearly constant dialogue between his staff and McLaren’s over the last three weeks as the IPC tried to get more details from McLaren. “Their thirst for glory at all costs has significantly damaged all sport”, Craven added.
He said he has only been focusing on getting this decision right but looked forward to working with Russia to reintegrate them as soon as possible, as he had “deep sympathy for Russian athletes.let down by a broken system”.
Instead, each individual sporting federation was given the power to decide if Russian competitors were clean to compete and a three-person International Olympic Committee panel then had the final say.
Unlike the International Olympic Committee, which doesn’t run any sports federations, the IPC does govern some disciplines.
“Their unanimous decision goes a long way towards inspiring us all – most importantly clean athletes – and upholding the Paralympic values we admire”.
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“This decision has placed a huge burden upon all our shoulders, but it’s a decision we’ve had to take in the best interests of the Paralympic Movement”, Craven said. The IPC plans to retest every sample provided by a Russian Paralympic athlete during the Sochi Games.
