Rio de Janeiro, Aug 3 (IANS): The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has thrown out the appeal filed by 17 Russian rowers against their exclusion from 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, according to media reports on Wednesday.
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Bach was peppered with questions about the International Olympic Committee’s handling of the allegations of state-sponsored doping in Russia, including the decision to give international sports federations the power to decide which Russian athletes should be cleared to compete.
Despite evidence of a state-run doping program in Russia, the IOC board rejected calls for a total ban and left it to worldwide sports federations to decide on the entry of individual Russian athletes for the games, which open on Friday.
Two Russian swimmers barred from the Olympics after an investigation found state-run doping have been given the all-clear to compete in Rio, the FINA swimming federation told AFP on Thursday.
Olympics chief Thomas Bach called for a complete overhaul of the global anti-doping system after revelations of state-backed cheating by Russian Federation rocked preparations for the Rio Games.
Speaking to the Russian team before they left for Rio last week, Putin said Russia’s Olympic ambitions had fallen victim to a politically-motivated plot.
“AIBA has carried out an individual analysis of the anti-doping record of each of the 11 Russian boxers qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games”.
That number could still grow, though, as several Russian athletes have appealed against their exclusion from the assessment process because of previous doping convictions.
New athletes committee chair Angela Ruggiero of “a pivotal moment” for the Olympic Movement, while a few IOC members meanwhile criticised the exclusion of Russian whistleblower Yulia Stepanova as a wrong signal.
“Every human being is entitled to certain rights of natural justice”, he said.
“It is hard to reconcile this with (the IOC’s) stated aim to provide the athletes with an opportunity to rebut the principle of presumption of guilt and to recognise natural justice”, a CAS statement said.
Bach reiterated his call for a full review of the global anti-doping system to make it more efficient and independent.
“Yes, there’s some disconnect and we’re going to have to bridge that gap”, said Pound, who was WADA’s inaugural president, leading the Montreal-based organisation from 1999-2007. “We will not hesitate to issue further measures or sanctions”.
Zhukov said it was unfair that Russian sports stars such as double Olympic champion pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva would now watch the Games from home while past doping offenders including top US runner Justin Gatlin took to the field.
“We may disagree (on) how we get there but we all work towards the same goal of protecting clean athletes”.
Members voted overwhelmingly in favor of a resolution backing the IOC’s decision not to impose a blanket ban on Russia’s athletes.
“The decisions have been very unpopular in a number of countries and it’s hard for International Olympic Committee members to explain why this particular option was taken”, he said.
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“Therefore, the IOC can not be made responsible, neither for the timing nor for the reasons of these incidents we have to face now, and which we are addressing and have to address just a couple of days before the Olympic Games”.
