Top Sports Court overturns life bans of 28 Russian athletes ahead of Winter Olympics

NewsBharati 01-Feb-2018

Total Views |

Moscow, February 1: Ahead of PyeongChang Winter Olympics, good news comes for Russian athletes. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS),a top sports court, has cleared 28 Russian athletes and dropped their life bans due to “insufficient proves” for doping. International Olympic Committee (IOC) has regretted the decision. In December, he IOC Executive Board banned team Russia from the PyeongChang Winter Games due to allegations of state-sponsored doping.

“Both CAS panels unanimously found that the evidence put forward by the IOC in relation to this matter did not have the same weight in each individual case,” the statement from the Lausanne-based international body said.

“With respect to these 28 athletes, the appeals are upheld, the sanctions annulled and their individual results achieved in Sochi 2014 are reinstated,” it added. It also partially upheld the appeals of other 11 Russian athletes.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesman said he was "very glad" about the ruling. Russian Sports Minister Pavel Kolobkov told journalists. “We are all happy that justice has finally been served,” he said.

In 2014 Sochi Olympics Russian athletes made record success but later over 40 Russian athletes, including Sochi Olympic champions, got slapped with life bans from the IOC. The decision "may have a serious impact on the future fight against doping" IOC said regretting it.

IOC CAS Olympics Winter Olympics 2018 Life ban