- 4:30 p.m. - To conclude, Russia will have 30 days to appeal the CAS ruling to uphold a competition ban for Russian track and field athletes.
Russian officials and athletes now hope that a decision by the International Olympic Committee on July 24 could provide a last lifeline for those hoping to compete in Rio. - 3.24 p.m. - “All these pseudo-clean foreign athletes can exhale with relief and win their pseudo-gold medals in our absence,” pole vaulter Isinbayeva said on Instagram. “Strength has always inspired fear.”
- 3.23 p.m. - For now, the only Russian track and field athletes to have received clearance to participate in the Games are long jumper Daria Klishina and 800-meter runner Yulia Stepanova, a whistleblower who has played a key role in uncovering the alleged doping cover-up and now lives in the United States.
Other Russian athletes have not taken kindly to what they consider to be selective justice.
“So I should've better taken dope and after being punished and exiled started shouting 'it's not my fault, they made me'?” Russian athlete Sergei Shubenkov asked on Twitter following the CAS ruling. - So I should've better taken dope and after punished and exiled started shouting "it's not my fault, they made me"? https://twitter.com/runoutofhell/status/756085852195942400 …
- 2.08 p.m. - Honorary president of the Russian Olympic Committee Leonid Tyagachev has blamed Russia's top sports officials for the predicament athletes now find themselves in.
“Athletes shouldn't be involved in politics,” he was cited as saying by the R-sport news agency. “[Sports Minister] Vitaly Mutko and [head of the ROC] Alexander Zhukov have a lot of work to do, the responsibility for all these matters is on their shoulders. Mutko should reconsider, sports cannot continue developing in this way, and the attitude toward athletes and coaches has to change,” he said. - Russia's Communists suggest reacting to track-and-field Olympics ban with either "Stalin's path or Milosevic's path" https://twitter.com/kprf/status/756070697374539776 …
- 1.59 p.m. - Earlier this month, Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov excluded the possibility of Russia boycotting the Olympics.
“Russia has always looked down on [Olympic] boycotts,” he said. - 1.50 p.m. - Russia's Olympic Committee (ROC) has canceled festivities planned for the Russian Olympic team's send-off before they go to Rio.
The festivities were planned for July 22.
“For now we won't have any farewell ceremonies,” ROC official Igor Kazikov told the rsport.ru website. “First we have to figure out what is happening,” he said, adding that decision would be taken after the IOC's ruling. - 1.40 p.m. - “I think we have no chances,” president of the All-Russian athletics federation Dmitry Shlyakhtin told the TASS news agency, commenting on the likelihood of Russian track and field athletes competing in the Olympics.
Shlyakhtin was appointed to the post early this year as part of a purge of Russian athletics and anti-doping organizations following WADA's first report. - 1.25 p.m. - In the letter, it said it was “deeply concerned” that the attempts to ban Russia's participation from the Games “are based on unfounded allegations and speculation from WADA.”
“The attempt to exclude Russia from the Olympic Games not only contradicts international sports and Olympic rules, but the very principles of the Olympics and sport, designed to serve the ideals of peace, harmony and dialogue,” it said.
It added that the deliberations at the IOC to disqualify all Russian athletes had “clear, political underpinnings.” - 1.22 p.m. - The Federation Council, Russia’s upper house of parliament, has sent a letter to the
International Association of Economic and Social Councils and Similar Institutions (AICESIS), TASS reported. - 1.14 p.m. - Two-time Russian Olympic medalist Yelena Isinbayeva who has spearheaded the Russian athletes' appeal against the IAAF ban, reacted to the verdict with bitterness.
“Thanks to everyone for the death of track and field. This is purely a political move. All the arguments are directed at the IAAF and there is nothing concrete against the athletes, it's a clear 'contracted' job,” the state-run TASS news agency cited her as saying. - 1.11 p.m. - IAAF President Sebastian Coe added it was “not a day for triumphant statements.”
“I didn’t come into this sport to stop athletes from competing. It is our federation’s instinctive desire to include, not exclude,” he was cited as saying.
“Beyond Rio, the IAAF Taskforce will continue to work with Russia to establish a clean, safe environment for its athletes so that its federation and team can return to international recognition and competition." - IAAF statement in response to CAS award: http://goo.gl/SvXeZq
- 1.08 p.m. - The International Athletics Federation (IAAF), which imposed the ban, applauded the ruling, saying it was “pleased.”
“Today’s judgement has created a level playing field for athletes. The CAS ruling upholds the rights of the IAAF to use its rules for the protection of the sport, to protect clean athletes and support the credibility and integrity of competition,” it said in an online statement. - 1.00 p.m. - Russian decathlete and Olympic bronze medalist Alexander Pogorelov has said he thinks it is unlikely that the IOC will go against the CAS ruling and allow Russian athletes to compete at the Games.
“All the actions of the global sports industry against Russia are aimed at not allowing Russian athletes to compete in the Olympics. I don't think the IOC's decision will be any different, sadly,” he told the Life.ru news website.
“Everyone who understands sport knows Russia is being artificially discredited as a leader in global sports. These are political games,” he said. - 12.56 p.m. - Russia now has 30 days to appeal the CAS verdict, the Interfax news agency reported, citing CAS secretary general Matthieu Reeb
- 12.54 p.m. - In its verdict, the CAS said “it had no jurisdiction to determine whether the IOC is entitled generally to accept or refuse the nomination by ROC [Russia's Olympic Committee] of Russian track and field athletes” to compete in Rio.
It also said it did not have the jurisdiction to decide whether the IOC “is entitled to accept or refuse the entry either as representatives of the Russian Federation or as 'neutral athletes'.”
That means there is still a chance some Russian athletes might be allowed to compete in the upcoming Olympics, pending a decision from the IOC in the coming days. - 12.46 p.m. - Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko has denounced the IAAF, which issued the competition ban, as “entirely corrupted.”
“All of this started with them,” Mutko was cited as saying by the Interfax news agency. “Those people who were identified in the first report [by WADA in November last year] continue to work.”
The minister said he “regretted” the court ruling. “Unfortunately, the introduction of collective responsibility sets a precedent, but we expected nothing else because when the vice president of the IOC says that Russian athletes have no business at the Olympics, that's a serious signal,” he said. - 12.38 p.m. -“The issue of collective responsibility, from our point of view, is not acceptable. We're talking about athletes who have prepared for the Olympics and have no connection to doping. They have been regularly tested by foreign anti-doping agencies,” Peskov added.
