However, he said the council supports Russian athletes who took steps to stop the doping culture and that those such as runner Yulia Stepanova “should be considered favorably” in their efforts to gain exemption from the ban.
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Rune Andersen, who led the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Task Force in Russia, said an athlete who had a record of clean tests from “credible anti-doping agencies” could compete in Rio but not in Russian colours.
As IAAF president Lord Coe repeatedly said, the final decision on Olympic eligibility is “a matter for the IOC”.
In an unprecedented ruling loaded with geopolitical ramifications, the IAAF upheld its ban on Russia’s track and field federation, saying the country had made some progress in cleaning up but failed to meet the requirements for reinstatement and would be barred from sending its athletes to the Rio Games that begin in 50 days.
“Of course, it is unfair”, Putin told editors from leading worldwide news agencies at a supper on the sidelines of the St. Petersburg global Economic Forum.
Russian Federation does not accept “collective punishment” for all athletes, he said, comparing the ban for the entire team to a prison sentence that “an entire family” could get if one of its relatives has committed a crime.
“I’m assuming that we’ll have a discussion with our colleagues in the World Anti-Doping structure and I hope for a suitable reaction from the International Olympic Committee”. “No. We will make the doping fight fiercer”.
But when IOC President Thomas Bach was asked it they would be prepared to overrule the IAAF ban at their Olympic Summit on June 21, he said: “I can not speculate”. “We can not trust what we call and what people might call clean athletes really are clean”. Individual athletes might not have failed a drug test but that doesn’t mean anything – we’ve seen that in the past.
He also said that doping should not be politicised or used to push an anti-Russian agenda. Russian Federation is doing everything possible to ensure our athletes are a part of clean and fair Olympic Games.
“There were members from all four corners of the world, and the decision was unanimous”, he said.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC), concerned about innocent athletes being punished, has not ruled out granting Russian athletes a special dispensation.
The IOC merely “took note” of the decision but said it would discuss the situation in a telephone conference on Saturday.
In a statement, Russia’s Ministry of Sport said it was “extremely disappointed” by the IAAF decision, adding that it believed “clean athletes’ dreams are being destroyed because of the reprehensible behaviour of other athletes and officials”.
The initial ban came after a report by an independent commission of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) revealed widespread state-sponsored doping.
WADA’s new report said hundreds of attempts to carry out drug tests on Russian athletes this year had been thwarted, with drug testers facing intimidation and threats from armed Russian security forces while athletes continued to evade doping control officers.
Yelena Isinbayeva, who had hoped to seek a third Olympic pole vault gold in Rio and who is one of Russia’s most prominent athletes, described it as a violation of human rights.
“For complete fairness other countries and regions now need to be examined in the same way”, she said.
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The couple got the news at home Friday. “I am offended, first on my personal behalf and on behalf of the team of clean athletes who are no longer in action”.
