Russian Track & Field Banned From Rio - Possibly More

[Damunk]

Cas upholds Rio Olympics ban on 68 Russian athletes
• IAAF suspended country after investigation revealed systematic doping
• IOC was waiting on ruling as it decides whether to ban entire country

The ban on Russia’s track and field stars from competing at the Rio Olympics will remain firmly in place after the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) rejected the appeal of 68 athletes made on their behalf by the Russian Olympic Committee.

In a verdict released on Thursday morning, Cas decided unanimously to keep the ban that was imposed by the IAAF, athletics’ governing body, following long and sustained revelations about state-sponsored doping in Russia.

Usain Bolt says Olympic ban on Russian athletes will ‘scare a lot of people’

The news was welcomed by the IAAF, which said the verdict had “created a level playing field for athletes and upheld the rights of the IAAF to use its rules for the protection of the sport and support the credibility and integrity of competition”.

The IAAF president, Sebastian Coe, struck a conciliatory tone, saying: “While we are thankful that our rules and our power to uphold our rules and the anti-doping code have been supported, this is not a day for triumphant statements. I didn’t come into this sport to stop athletes from competing. It is our federation’s instinctive desire to include, not exclude.

“Beyond Rio the IAAF taskforce will continue to work with Russia to establish a clean safe environment for its athletes so that its federation and team can return to international recognition and competition.”

The decision will increase the pressure on the International Olympic Committee, which has said it will decide the fate of Russia’s entire Olympic team for Rio by the middle of next week. The IOC president, Thomas Bach, is known to be against a blanket ban, but he is facing growing calls to make sure that Russians in other sports are either excluded or made to undergo an individual examination by the World Anti-Doping Agency before being allowed to compete.

— IAAF (@iaaforg)
July 21, 2016
IAAF statement in response to CAS award: https://t.co/IDPKefnBOg

The Kremlin said it deeply regretted the decision. Its spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “I certainly regret such a decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport which refers to absolutely all of our athletes [who filed the claims]. The principle of collective responsibility is hardly acceptable.”

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Russia’s sports minister, Vitaly Mutko, added: “I regret this decision. Unfortunately, a certain precedent has been established for collective responsibility,” he said, referring to doping violations by individual sportspeople.

Some senior figures in sport believe the IOC should consider banning the Russia team outright based on Article 4.5 and 4.6 of its Olympic charter. Article 4.5 warns national Olympic committees that, while they can work with governments, “they shall not associate themselves with any activity which would be in contradiction with the Olympic charter”. Article 4.6 states they “must preserve their autonomy and resist pressures of any kind which may prevent them from complying with the Olympic charter”.

Whatever happens, Russian track and field athletes are unlikely to be the only ones banned from Rio. The International Weightlifting Federation is on the verge of confirming that Russia’s team will be banned from Rio, along with Belarus, Bulgaria and Kazakhstan.

On Wednesday night the Guardian exclusively revealed that Bach had received an urgent letter from more than a dozen national anti-doping organisations urging it to immediately suspend the Russian Olympic Committee and provisionally ban all Russian athletes from the Rio Olympics.

The letter also warned Bach that he needed to fulfil his obligation to take the toughest possible sanctions against “institutionalised, government-run doping and abuse of athletes” to ensure the integrity of the Olympic Games.

However it said Russian athletes could compete in Rio under a neutral flag if a task force approved by the IOC and World Anti-Doping Agency verified they were clean “thereby striking a fair balance between your stated concerns between collective responsibility and individual justice so that no truly clean elite Russian athlete is barred from the Rio Olympic Games”.

In effect the letter was trying to force the IOC to adopt the position of the IAAF – which argued at Cas that no athlete who had trained inside the Russian system can be trusted to be clean because of the weight of evidence of state interference in doping, including positive samples being switched or destroyed, athletes being forewarned of tests, and a deep-rooted culture of performance enhancing drugs.


Will Russia go to the Rio Olympic Games? What happens next
Read more
Meanwhile Joseph de Pencier, CEO of Inado, which represents national anti-doping organisations, has warned the IOC that they should expect more revelations from Professor Richard McLaren, whose report on Monday detailed widespread state-sponsored doping in Russia.

Pencier said: “In the face of the McLaren Report, and the additional findings likely to come from Professor McLaren’s team in coming days, the IOC has an unmatched opportunity to do the right thing in the interests of clean sport and clean athletes around the world. The IOC will have our support in acting decisively and unequivocally showing that clean sport is at the heart of Olympic values.”

The letter also warned the IOC that a plan to allow international federations from each sport to separately decide whether to allow Russian athletes to compete – which is favoured by some members of the IOC’s executive board – was not feasible. “There is simply insufficient time remaining before the Rio Games and insufficient time and expertise available to the IFs within the 16 days remaining before the Games to accomplish the individualised analysis recommended by the IOC,” it says.

“Moreover, there is the risk that individualised international federations processes implemented at this late date would be subject to disparities and inconsistencies which would further undermine the Wada code goal of having a uniform, harmonised world anti-doping programme.”

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/ ... n-athletes

[Chimurenga Rebel]

Zee in 1,2,3.......

[benteke]

Its political.

[sayala]

Its political.

YEP the doping is controlled by politicians starting possibly with Putin. The sports minister (Mutko) is definitely involved. Government sanctioned doping of this scale dozent happen without involvement of politicians.

[Chief Ogbunigwe]

Its political.

YEP the doping is controlled by politicians starting possibly with Putin. The sports minister (Mutko) is definitely involved. Government sanctioned doping of this scale dozent happen without involvement of politicians.

Of course. 2 of the 3 officials who "oversaw" that their athletes were "clean" during the Sochi games in Russia developed heart attacks and died, while the 3rd one escaped to the US and blew the whistle. It is actually Putin's political clout that has helped mitigate the punishment, because the doping was egregious! In Sochi, they actually worked a system of swapping tainted samples with clean ones.

[Damunk]

Its political.

YEP the doping is controlled by politicians starting possibly with Putin. The sports minister (Mutko) is definitely involved. Government sanctioned doping of this scale dozent happen without involvement of politicians.

Of course. 2 of the 3 officials who "oversaw" that their athletes were "clean" during the Sochi games in Russia developed heart attacks and died, while the 3rd one escaped to the US and blew the whistle. It is actually Putin's political clout that has helped mitigate the punishment, because the doping was egregious! In Sochi, they actually worked a system of swapping tainted samples with clean ones.

You serious? When was this?

[Chief Ogbunigwe]

Its political.

YEP the doping is controlled by politicians starting possibly with Putin. The sports minister (Mutko) is definitely involved. Government sanctioned doping of this scale dozent happen without involvement of politicians.

Of course. 2 of the 3 officials who "oversaw" that their athletes were "clean" during the Sochi games in Russia developed heart attacks and died, while the 3rd one escaped to the US and blew the whistle. It is actually Putin's political clout that has helped mitigate the punishment, because the doping was egregious! In Sochi, they actually worked a system of swapping tainted samples with clean ones.

You serious? When was this?

will find an English version of the article and post the link. Dude who escaped and blew the whistle was initially branded traitor, and is/was facing criminal charges, with vehement denials by Mutko (sports minister). After $#% hit the fan, the Mutko himself has been making subdued statements and acknowledging the fairness and leniency IOC...

[bret- hart]

If Russia is banned then USA should be banned as well. Why is crackhead Justin Gatlin allowed to compete in the 100m???

[sayala]

Even Russian Paralympians are doping
Entire team banned

[Chief Ogbunigwe]

Even Russian Paralympians are doping
Entire team banned

But Don Putin's clout comes back into play . The Paralympians were the "pawns". The suspended "star" athletes, who are medal contenders, and were actually caught doping were quietly let back in a few days to the events. Check out the swimmers...

[benteke]

If Russia is banned then USA should be banned as well. Why is crackhead Justin Gatlin allowed to compete in the 100m???

Because USA.

[sayala]

If Russia is banned then USA should be banned as well. Why is crackhead Justin Gatlin allowed to compete in the 100m???

Russia is banned because of State sanctioned doping not individual doping

And Gatlin already served his suspension