RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – The entire Russia team was banned from competing in the upcoming Paralympic Games on Sunday as punishment for the country running a doping operation that polluted sports by prioritizing “medals over morals.”
The International Paralympic Committee’s blanket ban on Russia is in sharp contrast to the earlier decision by the IOC to allow individual sports to decide whether Russians could compete in the Olympics.
The Paralympics organization directly condemned the Russian state’s involvement, while stopping short of blaming Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Tragically this situation is not about athletes cheating a system, but about a state-run system that is cheating the athletes,” said IPC President Philip Craven. “The doping culture that is polluting Russian sport stems from the Russian government and has now been uncovered in not one, but two independent reports commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency.”
Russia’s years of doping deception, including the 2014 Paralympics in Sochi, were exposed by WADA investigator Richard McLaren last month. It followed an earlier investigation into doping cover-ups in Russian track and field.