Court of Arbitration for Sport upholds Russia ban from Rio Paralympics
The Court of Arbitration for Sport has upheld Russia's ban from the 2016 Paralympic Games, which was handed down after accusations of the country's rampant doping program.
The Governing Board of the International Paralympic Committee rendered its original decision on Aug. 7 for Russia's exclusion from the Paralympics, which will be held from Sept. 7 to 18 in Rio de Janeiro. Russia appealed the ruling, but the case was dismissed.
"IPC did not violate any procedural rule in dealing with the disciplinary process leading to the RPC’s suspension and that the decision to ban the RPC was made in accordance with the IPC Rules and was proportionate in the circumstances," CAS said in its ruling.
A panel of judges also ruled that the Russian appeal "did not file any evidence contradicting the facts on which the IPC decision was based."
The ban is a result of a World Anti-Doping Agency investigation that looked into state-sponsored doping in Russia from 2011 to 2015. It found that authorities switched doping samples from a WADA-accredited laboratory, resulting in corrupted results at the 2014 Winter Olympics and Winter Paralympics, which were held in Sochi, Russia.
The International Olympic Committee decided against banning Russia from the 2016 Summer Games, instead allowing the individual sports' governing bodies to decide if Russia could compete in the games. The country sent 282 athletes to the Summer Games, winning 56 medals, including 19 gold.
- Scooby Axson
