While clean Russian athletes can participate in Rio, whistleblower Yuliya Stepanova cannot, after being denied entry as a neutral. PHOTO: AFP
Seeking to justify Sunday’s decision, IOC president Thomas Bach said an outright ban would trample the rights of clean Russian athletes hoping to compete.
Individual sports federations will have primary responsibility for determining every Russian athlete’s eligibility for Rio, said the IOC executive.
He added the decision considered the severity of the misconduct while also sending “a message of encouragement to clean Russian athletes”.
“This result is one which is respecting the rules of justice and all the clean athletes all over the world,” he said.
Relief: Russia will go to Rio after all
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) last week called for Russia to be banned after detailing how Russia’s sports ministry had directed a massive cheating programme.
United States anti-doping chief Travis Tygart accused the IOC of creating “a confusing mess” with its decision. “The IOC has refused to take decisive leadership,” the USADA boss said in a statement.
“The fight against doping in sport requires strong international leadership, none more so in this case, where the integrity of an entire Olympic and Paralympic Games is at stake,” added Australian Sports Minister Sussan Ley.
WADA officials said they were “disappointed” with the IOC’s decision, which director general Olivier Niggli said would “inevitably lead to a lack of harmonisation, potential challenges and lesser protection for clean athletes”.
No blanket ban on Russians in Rio: IOC
The cheating affected 30 sports, including at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics and other major events, WADA said, in revelations that widened the worst drug scandal in Olympic history.
But others, including the global governing body for swimming FINA, opposed a blanket ban, as did countries such as Italy and others closer to Russia.
Pat Hickey, president of the European Olympic Committees, said the group “completely supports” the IOC decision .
Separately, an IOC ethics commission ruled that 800m runner Yuliya Stepanova, who turned whistleblower on doping in Russian athletics, could not go to Rio even as a neutral — a decision that both WADA and USADA denounced as likely to discourage others from coming forward.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 26th, 2016.
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