Olympic Doping Ban Overturned For 28 Russian Athletes [FULL IOC STATEMENT]

by Pablo MenaFebruary 1, 2018, 3:19 pmDaily Digest, News, Z-Home Slider >

Doping bans on 28 Russian Olympic athletes were overturned Thursday, surprising many just eight days before the star of the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Olympic Russian Doping ban appeals news

The Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) upheld the appeals of the athletes, who were given lifetime Olympic bans for doping violations committed during the 2014 Sochi Games. The CAS said there was insufficient evidence to prove the athletes — some of which have won medals — had broken any rules.

In 11 other cases, CAS ruled that doping violations had been committed but that lifetime bans were not justified and the punishments were reduced to a ban for the 2018 Olympics alone.

Among the reinstated athletes were cross-country skiing gold medalist Alexander Legkov, men’s skeleton gold medalist Alexander Tretiakov and women’s skeleton world champion Elena Nikitina. Aleksandr Zubkov, the double Olympic bobsled champion and Russian flag bearer in Sochi, is among the 11 competitors whose doping bans were upheld.

It was not immediately clear if any of the 28 cleared Russians would compete in Pyeongchang this month. To be eligible, they would need to be cleared by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Invitation Review Panel and subsequently selected to join the team of 169 Russian athletes competing as neutrals.

The Kremlin reportedly said it was “very happy” with the ruling. “This information about the CAS decision regarding our athletes confirms that active efforts to protect their rights in courts and in other ways are justified, they can be effective and they must continue,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on a conference call with journalists.

The IOC said in a statement that it had noted CAS’s decision with “satisfaction on the one hand and disappointment on the other.” It also said the ruling “may have a serious impact on the future fight against doping,” and added that it could yet appeal the decision at the Swiss Federal Tribunal, the nation’s highest court.

The decision by CAS was slammed by the lawyer of former Russian anti-doping official Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov. Rodchenkov was forced to flee to the US after becoming the primary whistleblower in the scandal.

The doctor’s claims were documented in the landmark McLaren report into Russian doping, which was published by the World Anti-Doping Agency in December 2016. The report found that several athletes’ urine samples had been tampered with, a practice that became regular following the Sochi Games. It also said male DNA was discovered in samples from two female ice hockey players.

The report also stated the London 2012 Olympics were corrupted “on an unprecedented scale.”

Here is the IOC’s full statement, which was posted on its website, on CAS’s decision:

“THE IOC HAS TAKEN NOTE OF THE CAS DECISION, WITH SATISFACTION ON THE ONE HAND AND DISAPPOINTMENT ON THE OTHER.”

“On the one hand, the confirmation of the Anti-Doping Rule Violations for 11 athletes because of the manipulation of their samples clearly demonstrates once more the existence of the systemic manipulation of the anti-doping system at the Olympic Winter Games Sochi 2014.

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On the other hand, the IOC regrets very much that – according to the CAS press release – the panels did not take this proven existence of the systemic manipulation of the anti-doping system into consideration for the other 28 cases. The CAS required an even higher threshold on the necessary level of evidence than the Oswald Commission and former CAS decisions.

This may have a serious impact on the future fight against doping. Therefore, the IOC will analyse the reasoned decisions very carefully once they are available and consider consequences, including an appeal to the Swiss Federal Tribunal.

With regard to the participation of athletes from Russia at the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018, the decision of the IOC Executive Board (EB) of 5 December 2017 remains in place. It makes it clear that, since the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) is suspended, Russian athletes can participate in PyeongChang only on invitation by the IOC.

The result of the CAS decision does not mean that athletes from the group of 28 will be invited to the Games. Not being sanctioned does not automatically confer the privilege of an invitation. In this context, it is also important to note that, in his press conference, the CAS Secretary General insisted that the CAS decision ‘…does not mean that these 28 athletes are declared innocent.'”

SOCHI, RUSSIA – FEBRUARY 23: Gold medalist Alexander Legkov of Russia celebrates in the medal ceremony for the Men’s 50 km Mass Start Free during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics Closing Ceremony at Fisht Olympic Stadium on February 23, 2014 in Sochi, Russia. (Photo by Ryan Pierse/Getty Images)