Doping: Russia satisfied that Russian athletes are not "collectively" banned from the Olympics - France 24

Moscow (AFP)

The Russian Olympic Committee said Thursday it was satisfied that Russian athletes are not "collectively" banned from the Olympic Games, after the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

"The main result of our joint work (...) is that the CAS did not support WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency, editor's note) in the adoption of collective responsibility and did not add additional criteria in the participation of Russian athletes in the Olympics, Paralympics and the world championships, ”said the president of the Russian Olympic committee, Stanislav Pozdniakov, at a press conference.

For his part, the head of the Russian anti-doping agency (Rusada) Mikhail Boukhanov hailed as "a victory for Russia" the decision not to sanction clean Russian athletes.

"The court decided not to accept the theses on which WADA had insisted so much. This is obviously an important precedent," he said during a press briefing.

The President of the Russian Olympic Committee, on the other hand, deemed "unacceptable" the decision of the CAS to prohibit the Head of State Vladimir Poutine from attending major international competitions for two years.

Giant of world sport punished for a cascade of cheating, Russia has been excluded for two years from major international competitions, but its athletes will be able to compete under a neutral banner if they have never been convicted of doping.

WADA demanded last year four years of banishment and more drastic conditions for Russian athletes.

The new sanctions will primarily affect the symbols of the Russian state, much more than the athletes themselves.

Thus, Russian officials - including the president - will not be able to attend major international competitions, the Russian flag will not be displayed there, the Russian anthem will not be played, and Russia will not be able to host any major sporting event.

Quoted by the Ria Novosti news agency, Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin "regretted" these "incorrect" sanctions targeting officials, believing that Russia "had done a lot in recent years for the development of world sport".

© 2020 AFP