22 banned Russian athletes file appeals with Court of Arbitration

The Court of Arbitration for Sport said on Wednesday that 22 Russian athletes who have been disqualified by the International Olympic Committee over anti-doping rules violations have lodged appeals with it.
“The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has registered 22 appeals filed by Russian athletes against decisions taken by the Disciplinary Commission of the International Olympic Committee (IOC DC),” the court said in a statement.
Among the athletes are Aleksandr Zubkov, Alexander Legkov and Aleksander Tretiakov, who lost their gold medals, and Olga Fatkulina and Maxim Vylegzhanin, who lost silver.
The court said a CAS arbitration procedure has been opened for each athlete, and that they requested that the CAS issue its decision before the beginning of the Olympic Winter Games 2018.
Based on the investigation of the commission, led by Denis Oswald, the IOC has so far disqualified 26 Russian athletes.
NAN reports that Russia was banned from the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics by the IOC.
The IOC alleged that it found evidence of an “unprecedented systematic manipulation” of the anti-doping system that has led to a series of suspensions for the country’s athletes in recent months.
The IOC did not impose a blanket ban on Russia ahead of the Rio 2016 Summer Games but said on Tuesday that the evidence unearthed by the Schmid Commission made the doping situation impossible to dispute.
Sputnik/NAN.