Entire Russian team banned from competing in Rio Paralympics

The International Paralympic Committee’s blanket ban on Russia is in sharp contrast to the earlier decision by the IOC to allow individual sports to decide whether Russians could compete in the Olympics.

In agreement with Craven, the IPC athletes council chairman Todd Nicholson told the press about his sympathy for the Russian athletes who were preparing to compete in the 2016 Summer Paralympics, but assured them that the decision was for their best interest.

The International Paralympic Committee on Sunday banned Russian Federation from participating in the upcoming 2016 Paralympic Games for allegedly violating international doping rules. Their medals over morals mentality disgusts me.

“Tragically this situation is not about athletes cheating a system, but about a state-run system that is cheating the athletes”, said IPC President Philip Craven.

The Russian government reacted angrily, promising to take the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). He was quoted by CNN as saying that it was to make sure that a “fair and level playing field” was maintained for all athletes.

When asked why he, as an International Olympic Committee member, supported Bach’s decision to let each sport make its own assessment on individual Russian athletes for the Rio Olympics – a convoluted and at times chaotic process that has led to Russia fielding a team of 278 athletes – Craven stressed the differences between the structures of the two organisations.

“The Russian Paralympic Committee are unable to ensure compliance with and enforcement of the IPC anti-doping code and the world anti-doping code within their own national jurisdiction”, Craven added.

The fact that the Paralympics do not start for another month also gave the IPC more time to digest Richard McLaren’s landmark report for WADA.

As far as the Olympic Games in Rio, 118 competitors of the 389-strong Russian team have been banned, due to the doping scandal. The Russian anti-doping system as a whole was “broken, corrupted and entirely compromised”. “This is about doing justice to clean athletes all over the world”.

“I’ve hardly slept these last five nights being torn between what would happen to certain athletes and the implications of the decision”, the 66-year-old Englishman said.