Court of Arbitration for Sport to rule on Russian appeal by month’s end

Russia’s hopes of fielding a full track and field team at the Rio Olympics will be settled by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on July 21st.

CAS has announced that the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) and 68 individual athletes have lodged appeals against last month’s decision by athletics’ world governing body the IAAF to uphold the global competition ban on the Russian athletics federation that has been in place since November.

The appeals started on Monday, with all parties agreeing to an “expedited process” as the registration deadline for Rio is looming.

That deadline is officially July 18th but if any Russian athletes are allowed by CAS to compete at the Games, subject to them reaching the qualifying standards, they will be permitted to register late.

The ban on Russian athletics was imposed after a World Anti-Doping Agency-funded investigation uncovered widespread cheating in its track and field programme.

Russian athletes, coaches and sports officials had hoped that the IAAF would lift the ban in time for the Games but the sport’s governing body announced on June 17 that the various reforms to the Russian system had not gone far enough.

The IAAF’s tough stance has since been supported by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Wada.

The reaction in Russia has ranged from anger to dismay, with athletes claiming they are being unfairly punished for the sins of others.

The IAAF, however, has said Russians who can prove they have spotless records, verified by credible anti-doping agencies, can apply for Olympic eligibility as “neutral athletes”.

Monday is the deadline to apply for that status and an IAAF spokesman has told the Press Association that it received more than 90 applications.

Russian media, however, is reporting that only two of its athletes — both based abroad — meet the IAAF’s strict criteria.

According to the IOC, these criteria should apply to would-be Russian Olympians in all sports, as the country’s anti-doping system has effectively been shut down.

The same was thought to apply to Kenya, too, but the IAAF has clarified that its athletes do not have to go through this process as its athletics federation was never banned.

This is contrary to the impression given by IOC president Thomas Bach last month, who clearly said all Kenyan and Russian athletes were in the same situation.

The IAAF has denied this, adding that it has been doing significant extra testing in Kenya this year.

In a busy period for CAS, the Lausanne-based court is also hearing an appeal from Turkish middle-distance runner Asli Cakir Alptekin on Monday.

Alptekin was stripped of her 1500 metres victory at London 2012 and given an eight-year doping ban after a two-year legal fight in 2015.

The sanction was imposed by the IAAF after a panel of experts had decided her blood values between 2010 and 2012 demonstrated clear evidence of doping.

As this was her second offence, the IAAF originally asked for a life ban before agreeing on eight years, a sanction that would rule her out until 2021.

But Alptekin is now understood to be asking for that to be reduced as she claims she has provided useful evidence in the fight for clean sport.