Russia loses appeal over ban on Olympic athletes

RUSSIA has lost its appeal against a ban on its track and field athletes from competing in the Rio Olympics.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected the appeal by 68 Russian track and field athletes seeking to overturn the ban imposed by the IAAF following allegations of statesponsored doping and cover-ups.

The ruling could influence whether the entire Russian Olympic team is banned from the Games.

The three-member CAS panel issued its verdict two days after the appeal hearing, without giving detailed reasons for its decision.

But the court said its reasons should be “issued as soon as possible”. That is likely to happen before the International Olympic Committee (IOC) executive board discusses on Sunday whether to impose a blanket ban on all Russian teams from the Olympics, which begin next month.

CAS secretary-general Matthieu Reeb said: “Our decision is not binding on the IOC.”

IAAF president Lord Coe welcomed the ruling, saying he is “thankful that our rules and our power to uphold our rules and the anti-doping code have been supported”.

But he added: “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 desire to include, not exclude.”

Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko said the decision to ban his country’s athletes from Rio was “political”.

He told the Tass news agency that Russia will now consider further action, as he condemned the verdict as unfair.

“In my view, it’s a subjective decision, somewhat political and one with no legal basis,” he said.

A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow regrets the court’s decision.

Dmitry Peskov added that applying “collective responsibility (to all athletes) can hardly be acceptable”.