Olympic team members from Russia march in Olympic Stadium during the Opening Ceremony at the London 2012 Summer Olympics. The International Olympic Committee is leaving it up to each sports federation whether Russian athletes can participate in the Olympics next month in Rio. File photo by Terry Schmitt/UPI |
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LAUSANNE, Switzerland, July 24 (UPI) -- The International Olympic Committee is leaving it up to individual athletics-governing federations to decide if Russian competitors should be allowed to participate in next month's Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Competitors who want to take part in the games in Rio must meet strict criteria "to the full satisfaction of his of her international federation" they are drug-free, the IOC said in a release The IOC said "the absence of a positive national anti-doping test cannot be considered sufficient by the IFs."
The 28 sports federations are required to "carry out an individual analysis of each athlete's anti-doping record, taking into account only reliable adequate international tests, and the specificities of the athlete's sport and its rules, in order to ensure a level playing field."
All Russian athletes who have been banned for doping are not eligible to compete in the summer games, which run Aug. 5 through Aug. 21, the IOC executive board decided in a teleconference Sunday.
The IOC was "guided by a fundamental rule of the Olympic Charter to protect clean athletes and the integrity of sport," according to an IOC release.
"We have set the bar to the limit by establishing a number of very strict criteria which every Russian athlete will have to fulfill if he or she wants to participate in the Olympic Games Rio 2016,''
IOC president Thomas Bach told the media. "I think in this way, we have balanced on the one hand, the desire and need for collective responsibility versus the right to individual justice of every individual athlete."
The decision was based in part on a report from the World Anti-Doping Agency, by Dr. Richard McLaren, that accused the Russian government of operating a doping program during the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games. The report found Russian security services tampered with and altered sealed urine samples. It was carried out under the direction of the country's sports authorities to cover up doping.
McLaren's investigation found state-backed doping had involved 28 summer and winter sports from 2011 to 2015.
Last week, Russia's track team was denied participation in the Olympics after it lost an appeal against a ban with the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
