CAS leaves door open for more Russian athletes to compete in Rio Olympics

RIO DE JANEIRO – The International Olympic Committee has approved a team of 271 Russian athletes to compete here, but that number could now grow.

A decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport on Thursday opened the door for athletes who have served a doping ban to have their eligibility reviewed to compete in the Olympics.

“CAS has ruled that it’s not appropriate to ban them, so therefore, we can’t,” said IOC spokesman Mark Adams at Saturday’s daily press briefing. “We regret that, but we totally respect it.”

Last month, the IOC opted not to ban Russia entirely following a second report commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency that revealed a cover-up of positive doping tests from 2011-15 that involved the highest levels of Russian sport and government and affected athletes in 29 Olympic sports.

The IOC decided to leave the decisions on individual eligibility up to the international federations that govern each sport and provided criteria for those federations to use to determine if Russian athletes had satisfactory anti-doping records.

One criteria prohibited the Russian Olympic Committee from nominating any athletes who had previous served a doping ban. In 2011, CAS had ruled invalid a rule that would bar athletes from competing in the subsequent Olympics after serving a suspension for doping.

In the case of two rowers, CAS called that criterion on the IOC decision on Russia “unenforceable.”

That means athletes can now have their anti-doping records reviewed by their international federations. If they meet those criteria and have that review approved by a CAS expert and accepted by the IOC, they can compete in Rio.

“Giving a blanket number is not particularly helpful,” Adams said. “It’s more important individual justice to athletes, or at least a chance to prove their innocence.”

Most notably, the decision could help swimmer Yulia Efimova. She’s a four-time world champion and bronze medalist in London but served a doping suspension from Oct. 2013 to Feb. 2015.

“We wanted to give a chance for athletes to prove that they were innocent,” said Adams. “If they could, we let them compete. If they can’t, they can’t compete. If there are some people who can’t, it’s a shame, but it’s much better than having a blanket ban on everybody.”

Contributing: Alan Gomez.