Moss Burmester swam for NZ at the 2004 and 2008 Olympics and has labelled the decision to allow Russia’s athletes to compete in Rio ‘a complete sellout’.
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Russia’s track and field athletes have already been banned by the IAAF, the sport’s governing body, a decision that was upheld on Thursday by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and was accepted by the International Olympic Committee again yesterday.
“We were mindful of the need for justice for clean athletes”, said Coates, who is president of the Australian committee.
Coates spent three days advising the IOC on the legal aspects of any decision relating to Russian sanctions for the Games in Rio de Janeiro and explained the rationale in a statement released by the Australian Olympic Committee.
Australia has been a long-standing member of WADA and Ley said the government strongly supported recommendations stemming from its McLaren Report that found evidence of a Russian government-backed doping system in a range of sports.
It had also ordered the immediate re-testing of all Russian athletes from the Sochi Olympics, as well as a full inquiry into the alleged doping cover-ups, instructing all worldwide winter sports federations to halt preparations for major events in Russia.
It also rejected the application by Russian whistleblower Yulia Stepanova, the 800-metre runner and former doper who helped expose the doping scandal in her homeland, to compete under a neutral flag at the games.
WADA also blasted the IOC decision to give individual sports federations the prime responsibility to determine every Russian athletes eligibility stating it was a recipe for confusion. “While WADA director general Olivier Niggli said that while they fully respect the IOC’s autonomy to make decisions under the Olympic Charter, the approach taken and the criteria set forward will inevitably lead to a lack of harmonization, potential challenges and lesser protection for clean athletes”. “We did not want to penalize athletes who are clean with a collective ban and, therefore, keeping them out of the Games”.
Russian officials and government officers have said the doping allegations are part of a Western conspiracy against their country.
Russian Federation hailed an “objective” decision by the International Olympic Committee not to ban its entire team.
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Putin, citing the USA and Soviet-led boycotts of the 1980 and 1984 Games, said the Olympic movement “could once again find itself on the brink of a division”.
