When asked about the possibility of clean Russian athletes competing under a different flag – a scenario previously mooted by the IAAF – he said that this would not work at the Olympics. “The Russian national federation is suspended and therefore IAAF has chosen this option in order to allow the athletes to compete in their competitions”.
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Bach said that the president of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) had described Spain and Mexico’s suspensions as “administrative” problems, not ones putting the countries anti-doping system itself in question.
“In Kenya you have a lack of funding and a lack of attention from agencies, [while] in Russian Federation you have serious allegations about the manipulations of the doping system”, Bach said.
The meeting comes four days after the IAAF, track and field’s world governing body, upheld its ban – first imposed in November – on Russia’s team for a “systematic and deeply-rooted culture of doping”. A marathoner from South Sudan competed under the Olympic flag in London because his newly formed country did not yet have an Olympic committee.
“Banning clean athletes from the Rio Olympic Games contradicts the values of the Olympic Movement and violates the principles of the Olympic Charter; it is also legally indefensible and devalues their competitors’ success”, Zhukov continued.
He says he hopes CAS will make an “objective, fair and lawful decision”.
Olympic leaders met Tuesday to consider further steps to crack down on doping ahead of the games in Rio de Janeiro in the wake of the ban on Russian track and field athletes.
For track and field athletes, that means approval is required from the International Association of Athletics Federations for each individual athlete.
International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach announced the measures at a media conference following a summit in Lausanne.
Bach added: “We will have some interesting debate”.
The status of other sports in Russian Federation, as well as other countries and sports with poor doping records, could also come under scrutiny.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists on Friday that Moscow supports the right of clean athletes from Russia to take part in the Olympics.
