DOPE SCANDAL
Russian athletes have been banned from competing at the Rio 2016 Paralympics following the country’s doping scandal.
The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) had opened suspension proceedings following the McLaren report, and has now confirmed the ban.
The report, published last month, claimed Russia had operated a state-sponsored doping programme.
The Russian Paralympic Committee will reportedly appeal against the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
In contrast to the IPC, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) chose not to give Russia a blanket ban from the Olympic Games.
The Rio 2016 Paralympics begin in 31 days time and 267 Russian athletes across 18 sports will miss the Games.
“The anti-doping system in Russia is broken, corrupted and entirely compromised,” said IPC President, Sir Philip Craven, at a news conference in Rio yesterday.
“The Russian Paralympic Committee is unable to ensure compliance with and enforcement of the IPC anti-doping code and the world anti-doping code within their own national jurisdiction and they cannot fulfill its fundamental obligation as an IPC member.
“As a result, the Russian Paralympic Committee is suspended with immediate effect.”
“Tragically this situation is not about athletes cheating a system, but about a state-run system that is cheating the athletes. The doping culture that is polluting Russian sport stems from the Russian government.
“The Russian government has catastrophically failed its Para-athletes. Their medals-over-morals mentality disgusts me. The complete corruption of the anti-doping system is contrary to the rules and strikes at the very heart of the spirit of Paralympic sport.
“It shows a blatant disregard for the health and wellbeing of athletes and, quite simply, has no place in Paralympic sport. Their thirst for glory at all costs has severely damaged the integrity and image of all sport, and has certainly resulted in a devastating outcome for the Russian Paralympic Committee and Para-athletes.”
The McLaren Report found that Russia’s sports ministry manipulated urine samples provided by its athletes.
The report identified 27 samples relating to eight Para sports, five of which are summer sports, including some governed by the IPC.
The IPC has also found evidence that samples were swapped during the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Games and they plan to re-analyse every Russian sample from Sochi.
The IPC allowed the Russian Paralympic Committee to present their case before they decided on the ban.
The IOC was widely criticised for ignoring the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) recommendation to ban Russia from the Rio Games.
Instead, each individual sporting federation was given the power to decide if Russian competitors were clean to compete.
A three-person IOC panel then had the final say.
In the end, more than 270 Russian athletes were cleared to compete at the Olympics.
MONDAY SCHEDULE
· Archery Starts at 13:00
· Basketball Starts at 02:30
· Boxing Starts at 15:00
· Canoeing Starts at 16:30
· Diving Starts at 20:00
· Equestrian Starts at 14:00
· Fencing Starts at 13:00
· Football Starts at 02:00
· Gymnastics Starts at 00:30
· Handball Starts at 01:50
· Hockey Starts at 00:30
· Judo Starts at 14:00
· Rowing Starts at 12:30
· Rugby 7s Starts at 16:30
· Sailing Starts at 17:05
· Shooting Starts at 13:00
· Swimming Starts at 02:03
· T/ Tennis Starts at 00:00
· Tennis Starts at 14:45
· Volleyball Starts at 00:30
· Water Polo Starts at 13:00
· Weightlifting Starts at 14:00
