McLaren reported that Russia’s state-backed doping led to samples from Paralympic athletes being made to disappear.
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The International Paralympic Committee has banned Russian Federation from next month’s Rio Paralympics.
Craven added, in scathing critique: “I believe the Russian government has catastrophically failed its Para athletes. Their thirst for glory at all costs has severely damaged the integrity and image of all sport, and has certainly resulted in a devastating outcome for the Russian Paralympic Committee and para-athletes”.
Craven stressed that the decision was not about individual athletes cheating the system but about “state-run system that cheats athletes”. “If we slacken off on that, we are finished, and we’re not going to”.
Consequently, the Russian Paralympic Committee will not be able to enter its athletes in the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games.
“It proves the fact that they had been opened”, Craven said. It was a body blow for everyone who is committed to clean, fair and honest competition. A decision of this magnitude must be evidence based and not influenced by the many and varied views of other people or organisations outside of the IPC and the Paralympic Movement.
Canadian law professor Richard McLaren’s report into Russian state-sponsored doping sparked an IPC investigation, which confirmed the urine samples of Russian para athletes had been tampered with. Our decision is driven on the need to hold our members accountable.
The world’s largest country now has 21 days to appeal against the IPC’s decision to suspend the Russian Paralympic Committee – a measure that means Russian Paralympic athletes can not compete in any IPC-sanctioned event – but Craven is confident his board’s unanimous decision will resist any legal challenge.
Critics had called for Russia’s entire Olympics team to be banned, to send a message that systematic cheating is unacceptable.
Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko told Russia’s news agency Tass he will appeal the decision and submit a claim to the Court of Arbitration for Sports in Lausanne, Switzerland. The decision by the IPC was “ungrounded”, he said.
The IOC opted not to issue a blanket ban.
It might seem unfair that Olympic Athletes were given a lighter ban than Paralympic athletes, but it’s because the IPC is taking a zero tolerance policy against doping. “Our team is one of the best in the world and its results are proof”.
The IPC issuing the ultimate sanction by banning an entire nation is sure to raise further questions about why the International Olympic Committee did not take the same hardline approach.
It impairs clean impaired athletes for a second time when compared to their Olympic counterparts, for political reasons rather than sporting, and goes against the Paralympic Movement’s principle of inclusion.
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The Department for Culture, Media & Sport praised the IPC for upholding the integrity of the sport.
