THE world athletics governing body has upheld a ban on Russian athletes competing at the Rio Olympics following a state-sponsored doping scandal.
The International Association of Athletics Federations made the announcement after a meeting in Vienna.
The ban was imposed in November following a report by a World Anti-Doping Agency commission that alleged state-sponsored doping, cover-ups and corruption. Russian officials claim they have met the conditions for reinstatement, but a new WADA report issued on Wednesday cited continuing obstruction and violations of drug-testing in Russia.
However, next Tuesday in Lausanne a meeting of leaders from the International Olympic Committee, international sports federations and national Olympic and anti-doping bodies will consider “whether and if individual athletes should be given individual justice”. Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko wrote an open letter aimed at persuading the IAAF to allow his country’s track and field athletes to compete at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Mr Mutko wrote that Russia has reformed its anti-doping system and that a ban from Rio for the entire track team would be unfair collective punishment for a problem which also exists in other countries.
He adds that “Russia has done everything that IAAF independent commission has rightly asked of us in order to be reinstated to athletic competition.”
John Coates, the Australian IOC member, told The Guardian that he was expecting the ban to be upheld. Coates is also president of the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
No comments:
Post a Comment