The recent decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) to ban Russia’s track and field athletes appears to signal the end of the road for Russian athletes hoping to compete for the upcoming Rio Olympic Games in Brazil.
Secretary General of CAS, Matthieu Reeb, announced that the body has declined the appeal by Russian athletes against an International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) ban from the Rio Olympics competition.
The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) lost its appeal against a blanket Olympic ban on its track and field athletes.
“CAS rejects the appeal of the Russian Olympic Committee and 68 Russian athletes,” CAS said in a statement.
The decision adds further weight to calls for the IOC to implement a blanket ban on Russia competing at next month’s event in Brazil.
With seven days to the start of the Olympics in Rio, obviously there is no time for Russia to appeal the CAS decision to the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland, while it would appear equally unlikely that a civil case could be pushed through in time despite the Russian sports minister suggesting that could be a viable route.
Russian officials and athletes have also urged the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to overturn the ban, but the Olympic organisers have confirmed they will respect the court’s judgment.
The implication of these is that Russian athletes are likely to miss out in the carnival in Brazil.
Although, there are two Russian track and field athletes that have fulfilled the criteria for the Olympics, but the country they will represent is still a matter for discussion.
Matthieu Reeb also noted that the ROC will not be able to appeal the ruling in the Swiss Federal Court, which means that long-jumper Darya Klishina, who trains outside Russia, will be the only Russian track and field athlete cleared to compete in Rio.
These two athletes to are Florida-based long jumper, Darya Klishina and doper-turned-whistleblower Yuliya Stepanova.
When the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) announced a loophole allowing athletes to compete in Rio if they could prove they had not been tainted by the Russian doping regime, they suggested those two athletes would participate as neutral athletes.
But, the IOC has so far insisted that they will in fact compete under a Russian flag and the matter remains unresolved.
Again, another big debate is that will the athletics ban have any implication on other sports for the Olympics?
Under pressure from various anti-doping organisations, the IOC has already confirmed that it is exploring legal options over whether to impose a total ban on all Russian sports for the Olympics and it made it clear that the CAS verdict would play a big part in that decision.
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) released a statement on its website, saying it has taken a strong stance on upholding the World Anti-Doping Code without fear and favor and is pleased that the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has supported its position.”
“The judgement has created a level playing field for athletes.
“The CAS award upholds the rights of the IAAF to use its rules for the protection of the sport, to protect clean athletes and support the credibility and integrity of competition.”
IAAF President Lord Sebastian Coe added: “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 2016, 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.”
Now that the athletics ban has been upheld, the ball is firmly in the IOC’s court. Some sports federations appear to welcome a ban, while some including gymnastics kick against it and others are yet to make statement on IOC’s decision.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC), however, can make its own decision regarding the participation of Russian track and field athletes at the Rio Games as the CAS does not have the power to implement the ban itself.
“The International Olympic Committee has to learn and analyze the CAS decision on Russian track and field athletes. Our decision will follow in the next few days,” the IOC’s press service stated.
With just one week left to go, the hope of Russian athletes to take part in athletics at the Rio Olympics is likely a mission impossible.
Maybe, Russian track and field stars will have to wait for the next summer games, Tokyo 2020 Olympics to compete – if by then the IOC and the IAAF clear them from any doping allegations.
Anthony Nlebem
