Sport

Rio 2016: All Russian athletes banned from Paralympics

IPC imposes blanket ban on Russia following report into state-run doping programme

The IPC’s decision to suspend the Russian Paralympic Committee will please the many anti-doping experts and athletes’ groups that wanted sport to send a much clearer message to Russia, and other rogue states, on the importance of clean sport.
The IPC’s decision to suspend the Russian Paralympic Committee will please the many anti-doping experts and athletes’ groups that wanted sport to send a much clearer message to Russia, and other rogue states, on the importance of clean sport.
Sun Aug 07 2016 - 16:50

The International Paralympic Committee has banned Russia from next month’s Rio Paralympics.

The decision was announced by IPC president Sir Philip Craven at a press conference in Rio and follows three weeks of intense speculation about Russia’s right to compete on the world stage following a damning report into its state-run doping programme.

Craven said: “The IPC governing board has suspended the Russian Paralympic Committee with immediate effect.

“The anti-doping system in Russia broken, corrupted and completely compromised.”

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Although expected, given the noises coming from the IPC, the decision will still cause the International Olympic Committee huge embarrassment as it decided not to issue a blanket ban.

That decision has been widely criticised, with the fall-out still causing confusion in Rio, although Russia’s Olympic team was finally confirmed at 278 athletes at the IOC’s press briefing on Sunday morning.

The IPC’s decision to suspend the Russian Paralympic Committee will please the many anti-doping experts and athletes’ groups that wanted sport to send a much clearer message to Russia, and other rogue states, on the importance of clean sport.