Russia loses appeal against ban from Paralympics over doping charges
The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that the International Paralympic Committee ‘did not violate’ any rule in banning Russia’s contingent to the games.
Russia on Tuesday lost an appeal against being banned from the 2016 Paralympic Games, The Guardian reported. The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that the International Paralympic Committee “did not violate any procedural rule” in banning its contingent from the games, which will be held in September at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The court further said that the appeal did not present any evidence that contradicted the “facts on which the IPC decision was based”. IPC President Sir Phililip Craven later welcomed the decision, saying that the body was “greatly encouraged” by the CAS’ decision. He added that the decision underlined the IPC’s “strong belief that doping has absolutely no place in Paralympic sport”.
Russia was banned by the IPC on August 7 after it found that the country was not fulfilling its obligations, especially with regard to the organisation’s anti-doping code and the World Anti-Doping Code. Earlier, the International Olympic Committee decided against issuing a blanket ban on Russian athletes from participating in the recently-concluded Rio Olympics. The World-Anti Doping Agency has issued a report detailing and criticising state-sponsored doping in the country.