Russia's Track & Field Team Banned

The IOC stands with IAAF regarding its decision to ban the Russian Track & Field team from the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Their approval cancels any hope of getting this issue resolved quickly and in time for Rio. Russia's last hope is with the Court of Arbitration for Sport, who might amend the ban, but they generally take many months to reach a decision (unless they are somehow willing to do things differently for this case). Like FIFA, another governing body, the IOC is trying to steer the public perception of its organization away from corruption and secrecy, so for many months a strong punishment was signalled to be underway for Russia [and Kenya, who is also battling a similar fight]. Vladimir Putin and the President of the Russian Olympic Committee, Alexander Zhukov, had hoped to reach a compromise that would allow clean athletes a chance to compete. The guidelines they laid out would stipulate that any athlete that had been tested internationally for the last four years with a clean track record could represent Russia; it wouldn't send the strongest athletes, since most of Russia's big names and gold medal winners are accused of doping, but at least Russia would be present in the arena. Putin has called the IAAF's decision "unfair" and "collective punishment." Many in the IOC pointed out that, in reality, the governing body of the Olympics has no jurisdiction over an international federation's right to ban a country. Their endorsement does make it more likely that Russia's track athletes will be banned from Rio, and indeed, as of this momement, they are and will likely remain so.

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