IOC unlikely to overturn IAAF ban on Russian athletes
Saturday 18 June 2016 14:03, UK
The International Olympic Committee is unlikely to overturn the IAAF's ban on Russian track and field athletes at the Rio Olympics, according to IOC vice-president John Coates.
The IAAF unanimously voted to uphold its suspension on Russian athletes competing at international competitions on Friday, following Russia's failure to address issues surrounding state-sponsored doping and corruption.
Russia president Vladimir Putin said on Friday evening he hoped for an "appropriate response" from the IOC, but Coates said he would be "very, very surprised" if the IOC moved to overturn the ban at a summit on Tuesday in Lausanne, where the Olympic body is due to discuss the matter.
"It's an international federation's right to suspend a national federation and I don't think we would overturn that at all," he said.
Coates described Russia's anti-doping and athletics authorities as "rotten to the core" on Friday, but backed up the words of IAAF Taskforce chairman Rune Anderson in suggesting that individual Russian athletes might compete at Rio if they could show sufficient evidence that they were clean.
"Where I would sit (would be) athletes should have to establish that they have had samples collected by an anti-doping authority outside of Russia and that they have been analysed outside of Russia and on a regular basis," he added.
"Clearly any analysis or any collections in Russia would not mean anything."
A statement from the IOC on Saturday supported the IAAF's decision, adding: "This is in line with the IOC's long-held zero-tolerance policy.
"The IOC Executive Board... emphasized that it fully respects the IAAF position. The eligibility of athletes in any international competition including the Olympic Games is a matter for the respective International Federation.
"The IOC will initiate further far-reaching measures in order to ensure a level playing field for all the athletes taking part in the Olympic Games Rio 2016.
"The upcoming Olympic Summit on Tuesday will address the situation of the countries in which the National Anti-Doping Organisation has been declared non-compliant by WADA for reasons of the non-efficient functioning of the national anti-doping system."
