Geneva: Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev yesterday slammed the rejection of Russia’s appeal against a ban on its Paralympians from Rio over state-run doping as a “cynical decision.”
“Banning our Paralympic athletes from Rio 2016 is a cynical decision motivated by desire to remove strong rivals,” Medvedev wrote in English on his official Twitter page.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) dismissed an appeal filed by the Russian Paralympic Committee, which sought to overturn the August 7 ban by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).
The IPC took the tough action after the release of a bombshell report commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), detailing drug-cheating directed by government officials and affecting dozens of sports.
Citing evidence compiled by WADA lead investigator Richard McLaren, the IPC argued that Russia’s disabled athletes had failed to comply with global anti-doping codes.
The Lausanne-based CAS said Russia in its appeal “did not file any evidence contradicting the facts on which the IPC decision was based.”
In a statement, the court “confirmed” Russia’s ban from the Rio Paralympics, which run from September 7 to 18.
Medvedev, however, said on Facebook in Russian the decision showed “a number of states and their political and sports establishments were looking for a traditional enemy and found it once again.”
The ruling was applauded by the president of Germany’s National Paralympic Committee, Friedhelm Julius Beucher.
“The judgement is a sign of consistent zero-tolerance on doping,” he said.
The Paralympics ban was the latest blow to Russian sport, which has been condemned by a mountain of doping allegations in recent months.
The country narrowly escaped an outright International Olympic Committee ban from the just-concluded Rio Games, but still saw dozens of its athletes barred, including almost the entire track and field team.
Russia continues to deny the findings of the McLaren report, including the involvement of the sports ministry and the Russian secret service in doping fraud at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.
Russian Paralympic Committee president Vladimir Lukin had sought to portray his athletes as independent from the Moscow government.
But the IPC said it did not believe that disabled Olympic hopefuls were untouched by the pervasive cheating in the country.