CAS to examine Russia’s lawsuit on IAAF’s suspension decision

Moscow, July 1 (IANS) The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) will receive a lawsuit of the Olympic Committee of Russia (OCR) on the IAAF’s decision to deny Russian athletes participation in the Rio Olympics on Saturday, OCR legal department head Alexandra Brilliantova said on Friday.

The OCR and Russian athletes would act as a single plaintiff to challenge the world athletics body’s decision of June 17 preventing the participation of "clean" Russian athletes in the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, reports Tass.

Russian athletes’ interests in the CAS will be represented by several foreign specialists.

"The lawsuit will be filed before tomorrow. The term has also been agreed in the CAS and even some staff will be on duty there on Saturday to accept it. There is an arbitration agreement on the accelerated hearing of the case," she said.

The IAAF decided at its session in Vienna on June 17 to keep in force the suspension of the membership of the all-Russia Athletics Federation (ARAF) in the global athletics body citing the Russian organisation’s failure to implement the previously set requirements of the IAAF.

The suspension means that Russian field and track athletes are currently ineligible to take part in the 2016 Summer Olympics in Brazil.

An exception will only be made for the athletes who will prove they are uninvolved in doping scandals.

The IAAF emphasised that the Russians would be admitted to competitions on an individual basis but would be unable to perform as part of the national team and would participate only under the neutral flag.

The Olympic summit on June 21 resolved that Russian athletes who would undergo the IAAF’s check into their non-involvement in anti-doping violations would be able to take part in the Rio Olympic Games. What’s more, they will be able to perform under the Russian flag.

International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach has said Russian athletes can’t be denied the right to perform at the Olympic Games under the national flag because the Olympic Committee of Russia has not been disqualified.

For this purpose, athletes should file applications to the IAAF before July 4, which will be considered by the world athletics body in an individual manner.

As of July 1, more than 80 applications have already been filed, according to the IAAF’s data.