International Paralympic Committee president Philip Craven says the Russian government has "catastrophically failed" its Paralympic athletes with a "medals over morals mentality" that disgusts him after issuing a blanket ban for the Rio 2016 Games.
The decision was announced at a press conference in Rio and follows three weeks of intense speculation about Russia’s right to compete on the world stage following Richard McLaren’s damning report into its state-run doping programme.
Pulled no punches
The Rio Paralympics get under way on September 7th but Russia, who won a total of 102 medals at London 2012, will not be present and Craven pulled no punches in announcing the governing body’s verdict.
In an IPC statement, Craven said: “I believe the Russian government has catastrophically failed its Para athletes. Their medals over morals mentality disgusts me. The complete corruption of the anti-doping system is contrary to the rules and strikes at the very heart of the spirit of Paralympic sport.
"It shows a blatant disregard for the health and well-being of athletes and, quite simply, has no place in Paralympic sport. Their thirst for glory at all costs has severely damaged the integrity and image of all sport, and has certainly resulted in a devastating outcome for the Russian Paralympic Committee and Para athletes.
“Tragically this situation is not about athletes cheating a system, but about a state-run system that is cheating the athletes.
“There is a great, great threat to world sport, to what we would view as the sporting spirit, that cannot be allowed to change fair competition, fair play, abiding by the rules. If we slacken off on that, we are finished, and we’re not going to.”
Parasport is not widely followed or celebrated in Russia, a country where rights campaigners say many disabled people are marginalised by regressive social attitudes, poor infrastructure and inadequate state support.
Sporting powerhouse
But Russian para-athletes are some of the most successful in the world, topping the medal table in Sochi and coming second after China at London 2012. Their exclusion from the Rio Games is yet another blow to Russia’s reputation as a global sporting powerhouse after dozens of Russian sportspeople were barred from Olympic competition for doping offences.
It also further tarnishes the legacy of the 2014 Sochi Olympics, an event held up by president Vladimir Putin to promote his image of Russia as a resurgent world power. Addressing Russia's Olympic team before they travelled to Rio last week, Putin said Russian sport had fallen foul of a politically motivated plot fomented by foreign rivals.
Russia will appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against the decision to bar the Russian paralympic team, TASS news agency quoted Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko as saying on Sunday.
