A decision by the Court Of Arbitration for Sport to uphold the suspension of the Russian track and field team could also lead to the banning of all Russian tennis players from the Rio Olympics.
Last year Russian Athletics came under heavy criticism after an investigation found widespread state-sponsored doping in the sport. The revelations came to light following information disclosed to authorities regarding officials covering up doping in athletics. In an investigative programme conducted by a German media organisation, athletes, coaches and former anti-doping officials spoke about the scandal. Some of those have since left Russia in fear of their lives. An independent investigation found that widespread doping in the country was beyond reasonable doubt and as a consequence, Russia was banned by the International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) in November.
Russia has remained defiant throughout and have appealed to the CAS about their current suspension. Their appeal has now been dismissed and the CAS has backed the IAAF in their banning of Russia.
“The Cas panel confirmed that the ROC is not entitled to nominate Russian track and field athletes to compete at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games considering that they are not eligible to participate under the IAAF competition rules,” a spokesman said.
This ruling has wider implications and could impact on Russia tennis. In another investigation, the world of sport was once again stunned when it was established that Russia also committed widespread doping violations throughout the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. The McLaren report discovered that the Russian secret service (the FSB) deliberately removed and destroyed positive drugs tests, a tactic that was approved by their government. This latest report has led to the potential of all Russian athletes being banned from Rio.
What does this mean for Russian tennis?
In both reports there was no mention of doping by any tennis player and there is currently no evidence to suggest that any have been involved. On the other hand, the latest revelations have drawn heavy scepticism about the country’s ability and willingness to abide by anti-doping guidelines set out by the World Anti Doping Agency.
Russian players hoping to play in Rio include Andrey Kuznetsov, Evgeny Donskoy, Teymurz Gabashvili, Svetlana Kuznetsova, Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova, Darya Kasatkina and Ekaterina Makarova.
The International Olympic Committee is expected to make a final decision this weekend. They are currently analysing the legal implication before potentially implementing the ban.
If a ban was introduce, players might possibly be able to compete in the event under a ‘neutral citizenship‘. If this rule would apply, it is reported that those athletes would be required to follow stricter anti-doping procedures.
