Russia Paralympic team banned from Rio games

The head of the International Paralympic Committee said the organisation’s firm anti-doping stance has been vindicated after the court of arbitration for sport dismissed Russia’s appeal against their exclusion from next month’s Paralympic Games in Rio. The president of the IPC, Sir Philip Craven, expressed his satisfaction after a Cas panel found that the decision to suspend the Russian Paralympic Committee on 7 August – as exclusively revealed by the Observer – because of evidence of state-sponsored doping was neither disproportionate nor in violation of procedural rules. He added that he hopes the ban will act as a catalyst for change in Russia.
“We are greatly encouraged that the Cas panel has upheld the IPC governing board’s unanimous decision to hold the Russian Paralympic Committee accountable for its membership responsibilities and obligations,” Craven said. “Today’s decision underlines our strong belief that doping has absolutely no place in Paralympic sport and further improves our ability to ensure fair competition and a level playing field for all Para athletes around the world.”
The IPC has been praised for its strong response in light of a damning report by professor Richard McLaren that revealed hundreds of covered-up doping tests in most Olympic and Paralympic sports over a four-year period. The IPC’s hardline stance is in stark contrast with the International Olympic Committee, which chose not to give Russia an outright ban from the Olympics. Yet Craven insisted the absence of the 267 Russian athletes who had secured places to compete in Rio was not a moment for celebration. He continued by saying the IPC will work with the World Anti-Doping Agency to establish the criteria that will eventually allow the RPC to return to the fold. There is an opportunity for a fresh start.
McLaren’s report, written on behalf of Wada, offered a staggering insight into the extent of Russia’s state-run doping programme. The Canadian revealed that 11 positive drugs tests from Russian Paralympic athletes were covered up by the Moscow anti-doping laboratory on orders from Russia’s ministry of sport between 2012 and 2015. He also confirmed that 18 samples from Russian athletes were swapped for clean ones during the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi. Russia won nearly half of the gold medals on offer in Sochi but the IPC’s hardline response to Russia was at odds with the approach taken by much of the rest of the international sporting community before the Olympics. The IOC compromised by letting each federation that runs an Olympic sport decide on the eligibility of Russian athletes for Rio. Only the International Association of Athletics Federations and International Weightlifting Federation took such a strong stance against Russia and the world’s largest country ended up fielding a 278-strong team at the 2016 Olympics,finishing fourth in the medals table by winning 56 medals. The World Olympians Association, the umbrella group that represents national associations of former Olympians, called the IPC stance “inconsistent and unfair” and said global responsibility could
With the Paralympics due to begin on 7 September, the IPC will work with International Federations to redistribute the 267 slots vacated by the Russians.