First Deputy Vice-President of the ROC in his interview named 15 athletes and coaches, for whom the ROC will request personal invitations to the Olympic Games 2018.
As you know, according to today’s CAS decision, doping bans on 28 Russian athletes were withdrawn, said Stanislav Pozdnyakov. Penalties imposed by the Oswald Disciplinary Commission, were canceled with all the ensuing consequences, including the return of fairly won medals at the Olympic games in Sochi.
The verdict of the CAS means the charges of violating anti-doping rules were dismissed, and therefore this criteria of the IOC no longer has anything to do with them. In this regard, we believe that the IOC should now return to the issue of the participation of these athletes in the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang.
As you know, according to today’s CAS decision, doping bans on 28 Russian athletes were withdrawn, said Stanislav Pozdnyakov. Penalties imposed by the Oswald Disciplinary Commission, were canceled with all the ensuing consequences, including the return of fairly won medals at the Olympic games in Sochi.
The verdict of the CAS means the charges of violating anti-doping rules were dismissed, and therefore this criteria of the IOC no longer has anything to do with them. In this regard, we believe that the IOC should now return to the issue of the participation of these athletes in the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang.
ROC addressed the IOC with a request to send individual invitations to the following athletes and coaches no later than 2 February: Alexander Tretyakov, Elena Nikitina, Maria Orlova (all Skeleton), Alexander Legkov, Evgeniy Belov, Maxim Vylegzhanin, Alexander Bessmrtnykh, Evgenia Shapovalova, Natalia Matveeva (all Ski Race), Olga Fatkulina, Alexander Rumyantsev, Artyom Kuznetsov (Speed Skating), Tatiana Ivanova, Albert Demchenko (both Luge) and Sergei Chudinov (Skeleton).
I will explain why these 15 people were chosen. We had consultation with the Federation of Winter Sports, which has analyzed the List of 28 thoroughly. Those sports I mentioned were proposed by the federations for the list to for the list of athletes to receive personal invitations. Other athletes in respect of which CAS took a positive decision, or have already ended their sport careers or are unable to qualify.
— Earlier the ROC together with national federations decided not to fill quotas which were intended for the athletes who didn’t receive invitations from the IOC, First Deputy Vice-President. In light of new circumstances, we ask the IOC and the international federations to reconsider their decisions on redistribution of Olympic quotas in favor of other NOCs and return them to Russian athletes.
I would also like to comment the press release of the IOC on the CAS decision. Among other things, it says that the IOC reserves the right to refer the case to the Swiss Federal Tribunal.
However, article 61 of the Olympic Charter says that any dispute related to the Olympic Games is to be settled by the Court of Arbitration for Sports. The same is declared in article 11.2.1 of the IOC anti-doping rules of 2014.
It appears that he IOC has given the CAS the final say in all matters related to the Games. The IOC, in first place, must respect and follow the CAS decisions. Otherwise, by appealing the CAS decisions in Switzerland, the IOC will express its lack of confidence to the CAS and cast discredit on the above-mentioned provisions of the Olympic Charter and IOC anti-doping rules.
