The Court of Arbitration for Sport on Thursday lifted life bans on 28 of the 43 Russians accused of doping at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
In a decision that could allow some of them to compete in this month’s Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, sport’s top court ruled there was “insufficient” evidence that the athletes had benefited from a system of state-sponsored doping at the last Winter Games, hosted by Russia.
CAS said in its judgement: “In 28 cases, the evidence collected was found to be insufficient to establish that an anti-doping rule violation (ADRV) was committed by the athletes concerned.”
The International Olympic Committee has banned Russia from competing at Pyeongchang as a team over the doping scandal, although 169 Russian competitors have been cleared to take part as neutrals.