The IOC will give the athletes the opportunity to prove their innocence, and if they do so, they may compete under the Russian flag.
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Zhukov was speaking at the International Olympic Committee summit examining further steps to secure only clean athletes compete at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in less than two months’ time.
On the subject of the “individual assessments” for would-be Olympians from Kenya and Russia, Bach said: “The conclusion of the summit was that this non-compliance declaration, and the substantial allegations related to it, put very serious doubts on the presumption of innocence for athletes coming from these two countries”.
“For example, all track and field athletes had already agreed to undergo a minimum of three additional anti-doping controls carried out by the IAAF before the Olympic Games”.
A WADA-funded investigation uncovered the systemic cheating within Russia’s athletics set-up last November and that led to the suspension of the Russian federation, anti-doping agency and anti-doping lab.
IOC President Thomas Bach said any competitor from Russia or Kenya wishing to take part in the Olympics will need to be individually evaluated by their sport’s worldwide federation.
“We look forward to working closely with the International Federations to determine how to assess eligibility”.
The IAAF left “a crack in the door” for what will probably be a very small number of Russian athletes who can demonstrate a clean record from credible testing agencies.
Russian officials have asked for clarification on exactly how its track and field athletes can qualify for exemptions to compete in Rio.
Borzakovsky, a former Olympic 800-meter champion, added that if he were still competing, he would refuse the IAAF’s offer of neutral status and that pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva planned to do the same if she receives an offer. This means that Russian athletes are unable to participate in the 2016 Summer Olympics.
IOC President Thomas Bach convened a special Olympic summit on Tuesday to take stock of the IAAF’s decision to maintain its ban on Russian Federation for the games and to take additional measures to ensure a “level playing field” for all athletes in Rio.
“In effect, it leads to the same challenge: To ensure the same playing field where the anti-doping system has been affected in different ways”.
“However, whilst retrospective action is welcome, too many athletes have lost their moments of glory due to those that chose to dope”. The IAAF said only a handful of athletes fell into that category.
In a decision welcomed by the sports ministry in Moscow, he said those cleared by the IAAF or the Court of Arbitration for Sport as clean and eligible would be able to compete in Brazil.
“We have discussed this decision with the IAAF”, he said. “So we are expecting the results of these potential court cases”.
A second WADA-funded inquiry started last month into claims of state-sponsored cheating at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, and its report is expected by July 15.
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In light of the all of the doping allegations that have plagued this year’s games, the summit also called for a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) hosted global conference to discuss what can be done to fix the problem. If it uncovers further widespread, state-backed cheating in Russian Federation, it could push for further action against Russian Federation.
