Thu, Aug 25, 2016 page16

• Court upholds Paralympics ban on Russia over doping

  • AFP, GENEVA, Switzerland
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  A ban on Russian athletes competing in the Rio Paralympics was upheld on Tuesday, triggering anger in Moscow after the country lost an appeal against their exclusion over a vast, state-run doping program.

  The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) dismissed an appeal filed by the Russian Paralympic Committee, which sought to overturn the Aug. 7 ban by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).

  Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev denounced the doping charges as a “thick and very nasty cocktail,” saying that the Paralympic ban constituted a “cynical” attempt by rivals to remove strong competitors from the Games.

  The IPC took the tough action after the release of a bombshell report commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency, detailing a drug program directed by government officials and affecting dozens of sports.

  Citing evidence compiled by agency lead investigator Richard McLaren, the IPC said Russia’s disabled athletes had failed to comply with global anti-doping codes.

  The Lausanne, Switzerland-based CAS said Russia in its appeal “did not file any evidence contradicting the facts on which the IPC decision was based.”

  In a statement, the court said that it “confirmed” Russia’s ban from the Rio Paralympics, which run from Sept. 7 to Sept. 18.

  However, Medvedev said on Facebook in Russian that the decision showed “a number of states and their political and sports establishments were looking for a traditional enemy and found it once again.”

  Russian Paralympic Committee president Vladimir Lukin indicated the barred athletes would pursue their case further by filing individual complaints at the European Court of Human Rights.

  However, IPC president Philip Craven said the decision “underlines our strong belief that doping has absolutely no place in Paralympic sport.”

  The ruling was applauded by National Paralympic Committee Germany president Friedhelm Julius Beucher.

  “The judgement is a sign of consistent zero-tolerance on doping,” he said.

  The Paralympics ban was the latest blow to Russian sport, which has been condemned by a mountain of doping allegations in recent months. The country narrowly escaped an outright International Olympic Committee ban from the just-concluded Rio Games, but still saw dozens of its athletes barred, including almost the entire track and field team.

  Russia continues to deny the findings of the McLaren report, including the involvement of the Russian Ministry of Sport and the Russian Federal Security Service, commonly known as the FSB, in doping fraud at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.

  While Lukin had sought to portray his athletes as independent from the Moscow government, the IPC said it did not believe that disabled Olympic hopefuls were untouched by the pervasive cheating in the country.

  Craven said previously that Russia’s “thirst for glory at all costs has severely damaged the integrity and image of all sport.”

  “Their medals over morals attitude disgusts me,” he added.

  Dmitry Svishchev, who heads the Russian State Duma’s Sports and Physical Culture Committee, told reporters: “I really don’t like this decision. I think that it is baseless and cruel. The athletes against whom this decision was taken did not deserve this.”

  The Paralympics, held every four years for athletes with disabilities, has taken place in various forms since 1948, but has grown in importance over the past 20 years. An estimated 250 Russian competitors had been slated to take part in Rio and many had continued training ahead of the CAS decision.

  That included 19-year-old backstroke swimmer Alexander Makarov, who suffers from arthrogryposis, a congenital condition that limits the limbs’ movements.

  He last week told reporters that he was trying “not to think” about being barred from Rio, as he churned through 50 laps during a morning training session outside Moscow.
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