Russia claims victory after CAS' loophole-ridden doping sanctions leave plenty of workarounds
FirstpostThe new restrictions on Russia will be weaker than before. In Tokyo and Beijing, Russia will be able to field athletes whose files in the Moscow doping lab database were altered or deleted while the data was under the control of the Russian state. Russian teams won’t officially be called Russian teams at next year’s Tokyo Olympics or the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing, but “Russia” will be printed on their red, white and blue uniforms. “The international sports arbitration did not restrict clean athletes’ rights to take part in Olympic and Paralympic Games and world championships.” WADA wanted Russian athletes to show they didn’t benefit from cover-ups at the Moscow laboratory before they were cleared to compete at the Olympics, Paralympics and world championship events. The Russian Hockey Federation welcomed the CAS decision to cut the proposed sanction to two years, saying it will host the 2023 world championships “without any restrictions of any kind.” Russia could yet launch targeted appeals to soften the CAS sanctions further.