Sports tribunal opens Rio’s doors to more Russian participation

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced Thursday that 271 Russian athletes have been allowed to participate in the Rio Games which will officially open on Friday.

The recently formed IOC Independent Panel is having a final say on the participation of particular Russian athletes in the Olympics, which kick off with promises of a spectacular opening ceremony in Rio de Janeiro Friday night.

Olympic officials later chose to let the global sports federations decide which individual athletes could compete in Rio after a review of their doping records.

Russian Olympic Committee president Alexander Zhukov said some other cases remained unresolved after investigations prompted by the discovery of a state-orchestrated plot to dupe drugs testers.

The IOC decision was hailed by the Russians as “objective” while the US anti-Doping Agency ( USADA) said the IOC had failed to demonstrate decisive leadership.

The IOC opted not to ban all Russian athletes from the Rio Olympics after revelations of a wide state-backed doping programme across many sports.

So far we know Russian athletes have been banned from the games by the International Association of Athletics Federations and the International Weightlifting Federation, although a few exceptions will apply.

Russian sportspeople will be at the Olympic Games in Rio in numbers, after escaping a blanket ban.

Bach pointed to the near-unanimous support he received from members over the International Olympic Committee decision, with only Britain’s Adam Pengilly voting against. Around a third of Russia’s original list of 389 competitors were barred, most on suspicion of doping, the BBC reports.

“The IOC Decision deprives the Russian athletes of the presumption of innocence and rather establishes a presumption of guilt”, CAS said in a news release. Nobody implicated, be it an athlete, an official, or an NF, may be accepted for entry or accreditation for the Olympic Games.

“However, I do think about running for the post”.

Critics had called for the entire team to be banned to show systematic cheating is unacceptable. We can not destroy justice.

“We are living in a world of crises, mistrust and uncertainty”, Bach said.

Despite an attack led by Barcelona striker Neymar and talented youngsters Gabriel Jesus and Gabigol, Brazil was not able to find the net at the packed Mane Garrincha Stadium in Brasilia.

In the jungle city of Manaus, Colombia and Sweden drew 2-2 in Group B.