Cas decision stuns the IOC

– Just days before the start of the Winter Olympics, Olympic chiefs basking in glory over the historic participation of North Korea were brought down to earth by a new twist in the Russian doping scandal saga.

IOC officials were stunned by the decision by sport’s top court to reverse life bans on dozens of Russian athletes and the issue is expected to hijack the agenda at a two-day IOC board meeting from today, followed by a full session of IOC members from Monday.

The board meeting was scheduled to be a low-key affair until the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) lifted life bans on 28 Russian athletes.

They were among 43 Russians who had appealed against life bans imposed by the IOC after they were disqualified from the 2014 Sochi Olympics for benefitting from a system of state-backed doping put in place for the Games.

Swiss lawyer Denis Oswald chaired the disciplinary commission and he will be one of 14 members of the board.

Jim Walden, the lawyer for doping whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov who lifted the lid on the Russian scandal, has urged the IOC to appeal the Cas ruling.

McLaren’s findings resulted in a ban on Russian athletes taking part in the Pyeongchang Games. Since then 169 “clean” Russian athletes have been approved to take part by a special IOC panel.

Now Olympic chiefs must consider what to say to the 28 competitors cleared by the top sports court after it said there was insufficient evidence against them.

The 28, including Sochi cross-country gold medallist Alexander Legkov, are now eligible to compete, but their presence in South Korea is by no means certain.

“Not being sanctioned does not automatically confer the privilege of an invitation” to the 2018 Games in South Korea, the IOC said in a statement following Thursday’s Cas appeal decision. – AFP