Russia’s track and field athletes will not be able to compete in the Rio Olympics, the International Association of Athletics Federations decided on Friday.
In a historic decision, the IAAF voted to extend a ban of the All Russian Athletics Federation that has kept its athletes out of international competition since a World Anti-Doping Agency independent commission report released in November concluded Russia was running a state-sponsored doping program in athletics.
In a statement, the Russian Ministry of Sport said it was disappointed and thought it did everything it could to meet the IAAF’s conditions for re-entry.
“Clean athletes’ dreams are being destroyed because of the reprehensible behaviour of other athletes and officials,” the statement said, in part. “They have sacrificed years of their lives striving to compete at the Olympics and now that sacrifice looks likely to be wasted.”
The IAAF’s decision is almost certain to be challenged. Last month, Russian pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, said she would file a discrimination case in the court for human rights.
It’s unclear whether the International Olympic Committee could amend the IAAF’s decision. The IOC is set to hold a summit on Tuesday to " address the difficult decision between collective responsibility and individual justice." President Thomas Bach said the IOC will have a zero-tolerance policy on doping, but he has declined to elaborate about what that means regarding a potentially broader ban of Russia entirely
Despite the challenges ahead, the IAAF’s decision comes as cries for Russia to be banned have intensified in recent weeks.
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
No comments
Post a Comment
Kindly drop a comment below.
(Comments are moderated. Clean comments will be approved immediately)
Advert Enquires - Reach out to us at NigerianEye@gmail.com