The McLaren Report recommended a blanket ban for Russian athletes for Rio 2016 but the IOC decided on July 24 that the global federations should rule on their eligibility in their sports and has since set up an independent panel to give a final decision.
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“I hope that by tomorrow all the formalities regarding letting the team (compete in Rio) will be completed”, Mutko told RIA Novosti news agency in comments made in Paris.
Antidoping bodies have called on Russian Federation to be excluded from the Rio Olympics, which begin on Friday, in the wake of a report by the World Anti-Doping Agency that accused the country of state-sponsored doping.
Worldwide sport will be heading on the “road to nowhere” unless doping sanctions are applied in the the same way to all countries, Mutko said.
Bach has said the International Olympic Committee is not responsible as it did not decide the release of the McLaren report nor control the anti-doping laboratories that Russian authorities have been accused of manipulating.
The CAS released a statement Monday saying the cases of Vladimir Morozov and Nikita Lobintsev, both Olympic medal-winning swimmers, had been adjourned and a decision on the future conduct of the hearing would be made Tuesday.
The IOC won’t allow Russians to compete in Rio if they had previously been banned for doping, were implicated in the alleged cover-up or had not been tested often enough internationally.
“This decision is about justice”, Bach said during the opening ceremony of the IOC’s general assembly on Monday.
“It was only when CBS 60 Minutes and the New York Times, on May 8 and 12, 2016 respectively, published the allegations from the former director of the Moscow and Sochi laboratories, Dr Grigory Rodchenkov, that Wada had concrete evidence suggesting Russian state involvement that could be investigated by initiating the McLaren Investigation, which we did immediately”, said Reedie.
In the wake of revelations about state sponsored doping in Russian Federation which have left a question mark over the entire country’s participation at the Games, there are many issues for WADA president Craig Reedie to address.
An investigation by Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren which revealed state-organised doping in Russian Federation has overshadowed the buildup to the Rio Games which start Friday.
But the IOC allowed Russian athletes with spotless doping records and sufficient worldwide drugs tests to compete, saying it would be unfair to punish clean athletes along with cheats. Workers have also been repairing the ramp to be used at the sailing venue in Guanabara Bay which collapsed after being hit by high winds and waves on Saturday.
Nadal is scheduled to carry the Spanish flag at the opening ceremony on Friday night at the Maracana stadium. She replaces Claudia Bokel, a former Olympic fencer from Germany whose four-year term is expiring.
The United States will have a second member on the International Olympic Committee’s executive board. Her elevation comes at a crucial time for the US, with Los Angeles bidding for the 2024 Olympics. Andrada says: “We could and should have done a little better”.
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Rio dumps at least half of its untreated sewage into the water surrounding the city, soiling many of its world-famous beaches.
