Russians angry after Rio Games ban appeal rejected

LAUSANNE: The international sports tribunal on Thursday rejected an appeal by Russian athletes against a Rio Olympics ban amid mounting pressure for action over state-run doping in Russia.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruling on track and field is seen as a key indicator as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) debates whether to order a blanket ban on Russia from the Rio Games that start August 5.

The IOC executive is to hold more talks on Sunday and a decision on a ban could be announced after, an Olympic spokesperson said.

The heads of international federations for the sports in Rio held their own talks on Thursday.

Russia reacted angrily however. It is a sporting powerhouse whose absence from Rio would create the biggest crisis in decades for the

Olympic movement. cleaning up,” six-time Olympic sprint title winner Usain Bolt of Jamaica said of the CAS ruling. Russia’s Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko called the CAS ruling “politicised” and illegal however. CAS said it had unanimously “dismissed” an appeal by the Russian Olympic Committee and 67 athletes against an International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) ban. Athletics ‘funeral’ The 67 included two time Olympic pole vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva and world champion men’s 110m hurdler Sergey Shubenkov. The IAAF ban covers all international competition and follows an investigation by the World Anti-Doping Agency last year which found widespread “state-sponsored” doping. Isinbayeva slammed the CAS ruling as a “funeral for athletics” and “a blatant political order.” The Kremlin expressed “deep regret” over the decision and said it had “no legal basis.” Russia has denied any state involvement in the doping crisis. Originally, 68 Russians had appealed against the IAAF ban but the governing body has cleared US-based long jumper Darya Klishina to compete in Rio. An IOC ethics commission is to rule on the case of Yuliya Stepanova, an 800m runner who turned whistleblower on the doping. The IAAF welcomed the CAS tribunal ruling. “Today’s judgement has created a level playing field for athletes,” said an IAAF statement. “The CAS award upholds the rights of the IAAF to use its rules for the protection of the sport (and) to protect clean athletes.” The CAS ruling has been the focus of Olympic attention, however, since an independent WADA report this week said Russia ran a “state-dictated failsafe system” of drug cheating in 30 sports at the 2014 Sochi Games and other major events. IOC president Thomas Bach has called Russia’s actions a “shocking and unprecedented attack on the integrity of sport and on the Olympic Games.”