Lausanne, Dec 5 (AFP) Russia's state-sponsored dopingscheme constitutes an "unprecedented attack on the integrityof the Olympic Games and sport", the IOC chief Thomas Bachsaid today.
Bach was speaking after Russia were banned from the 2018Olympics on Tuesday over state-sponsored doping. However,Russian competitors would be able to compete under the Olympicflag as neutral athletes, the IOC said.
Bach explained: "The IOC EB (Executive Board), afterfollowing due process, has issued proportional sanctions forthis systemic manipulation while protecting the cleanathletes."The IOC announced the decision after examining evidenceof state-sponsored doping over several years that reached ahigh-point at the Winter Olympics hosted in Sochi, Russia, in2014.
Nations have in the past been barred from taking part inthe Olympics, notably South Africa during the apartheid years,but none has ever been handed a ban over doping. (AFP)CPS.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.