The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the highest authority in matters of sporting dispute, have upheld a ban by the International Federation of Athletics Federation (IAAF) on Russian athletes from appearing at this year’s Olympic Games.
The country has been battling allegations of state sponsored doping, after an independent report found widespread evidence of the country’s duplicity in illegally pumping up their athletes.
The IAAF banned the nation from the upcoming Olympic Games on those grounds, but an appeal by the Russian Federation and some athletes was sent to CAS, which upheld the earlier ruling.
“The Cas panel confirmed that the ROC is not entitled to nominate Russian track and field athletes to compete at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games considering that they are not eligible to participate under the IAAF competition rules,” a spokesman said, according to the BBC.
Top athletes who would miss the game due to this ban include pole vault legend Yelena Isinbayeva, who is the defending champion in the event from 2012.
Moving forward, the IAAF has set up a program where some Russian athletes willing to compete would have to undergo vigorous testing, whilst measures are taken to clean up the sport in the country.
The Rio 2016 Olympic Games kicks off on August 5.