CAS Upholds Olympic Ban Of Russian Track And Field Athletes

The International Olympic Committee says a welfare officer will be assigned to the athletes’ village in Rio de Janeiro to coordinate any reports of harassment or abuse during the games next month.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport will issue its verdict Thursday on Russia’s appeal to overturn the IAAF ban on its track and field athletes for the games.

“Today’s judgment has created a level playing field for athletes”, the IAAF said in a statement.

“The door is open for the International Olympic Committee to decide, to determine even on a case-by-case principle whether these athletes are eligible or not”, CAS secretary general Matthieu Reeb told reporters outside the court headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.

The final decision on the admission of Russian athletes to the 2016 Olympics, due to kick off early next month, is yet to be made by the IOC Executive Board, which plans to hold a conference on the issue on July 24. Coaches and team doctors must also pass a written exam on banned substances with only those scoring 80 percent or more permitted to go to Rio Olympics.

IAAF President Sebastian Coe said it was “not a day for triumphant statements”. “It is our federation’s instinctive desire to include, not exclude”.

If the ban is upheld, it could give extra momentum to a campaign for Russia’s entire delegation across all sports to be banned from the Olympics, ahead of a key International Olympic Committee meeting Sunday.

Russia’s Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko called the CAS ruling “politicised” and illegal however. The IOC could also choose to permit all Russian Olympians to compete, including track and field athletes, as long as they have not failed any doping tests.

The investigators said that 580 wee samples, from 30 different sports, which tested positive for drugs, were covered up in the build-up to the 2012 Olympics in London and during the 2014 Winter Olympics in the Russian city of Sochi.

The IOC says incidents will be handled by “a confidential procedure linked to local law enforcement agencies and relevant disciplinary channels”.

“The Court of the Arbitration for Sport has dismissed the request filed by the Russian Olympic Committee and 68 Russian athletes”.

Russian Federation was suspended from track and field events by the IAAF in November 2015 following the publication of an independent World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) report that showed a culture of widespread, state-sponsored doping.

Usain Bolt believes the decision to ban Russian track and field athletes from the Rio Olympic Games will “scare a lot of people” and feels it was important for authorities to take a strong stance on doping.

Three hours after news came through that Russia’s appeal against the ban by the International Association of Athletics Federations had been rejected, Kuchina leapt 2 meters in front of the sparse crowd.

“According to the Olympic Charter, they could have the last word who could participate in the Olympic Games because the IOC is the main organizer of the Olympic Games”, he added.