Court confirms Rio Olympics ban on 68 Russian athletes

An appeal by the Russian Olympic Committee and 68 Russian athletes over the ban imposed on them for next month’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro has been rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

CAS issued the verdict on Thursday in the case of the athletes who had sought to overturn the ban imposed by the governing body of world athletics, the IAAF, following allegations of state-sponsored doping and cover-ups.

The Russian appeal was heard by a CAS panel on Tuesday. The appeal had questioned the validity of the IAAF decision and sought to ensure the participation in Rio of athletes who were not accused of any doping violation.

The IAAF suspended Russia in November following an investigation that found systematic doping by Russian competitors at the London Olympics and elsewhere.

On Tuesday, the International Olympic Committee had declared it would wait until after the CAS ruling and explore “legal options” before deciding on whether to ban the entire country from Rio.

The Russian Olympic Committee president, Alexander Zhukov, said he expected the issue to be resolved by the end of the week, although the IOC has suggested any decision could take up to seven days.

The International Association of Athletics Federations said it was pleased that the Court of Arbitration for Sport has supported its position.

It said in a statement: “Today’s judgment 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.”