Sports Arbitration Court Repeals IOC Ban on Russian Athletes - Bets Accepted if Corrupt IOC Complies
The Russian Olympic Committee is filing an additional appeal to the IOC. Russia hopes that the decision to unban our athletes would be carried out shortly. The athletes are counting on this. They have been training for the Olympics and had faith in justice.
Daria Kozlova with the details from PyeongChang and Anastasia Efimova from Geneva.
The first Olympic athletes from Russia have arrived in PyeongChang and populated the Olympic village. The first news that reached Korea is good for our team.
Matthieu Reeb, CAS Secretary General: "The CAS arbitrators have arrived at a verdict that the evidence filed by the IOC against the Russian athletes did not have enough weight in each individual case. So, the evidence in 28 cases of the anti-doping rule violation has been considered insufficient".
The appeals of 28 athletes have been allowed. It means their names could be added to the list of our athletes in PyeongChang.
Olga Fatkulina, silver medal in speed skating: "I knew it would be like this, that the truth will be on our side. We hope to win the cases so that we could go to the Olympics".
Until the last day, the athletes didn't believe that the CAS could support Russia. They got used to the constant trials month after month.
Maxim Vylegzhanin, three silver medals in cross-country skiing: "I discovered the news during a training and was so happy I could ski till the late evening. Our lawyers instantly filed an appeal because even the CAS recommended we receive our invitations. We're waiting for the decision of the IOC".
Albert Demchenko, lead luge coach: "We're happy that ultimately the CAS supported the athletes. That was the right decision. Truth prevailed".
Albert Demchenko is our lead luge coach. He hopes to fly to Korea this Sunday. The leaders of our team — his trainees — are already in PyeongChang. They arrived right before the opening of the Olympic village.
Moscow — Seoul, direct flight 8.5 hours in the sky. Tonight, our athletes will cross six time zones but they're used to dealing with physical stress. Let's find out how.
- How do you usually recover after such long flights?
Roman Repilov, three-time winner of Luge World Championship: "Well, we usually either swim or run a lot and do our traditional training routine."
Vladislav Antonov, silver medal in luge: "We know what we're capable of strive for victory. We'll do everything we can".
The IOC still doesn't want to see Russian athletes in PyeongChang.
Mark Adams, IOC: "The result of the CAS decision doesn't mean that these 28 athletes will be invited. The fact that they aren't banned doesn't mean they are invited".
The CAS unanimously proclaimed our 28 athletes clean. There's no way they can't be admitted if doping was the only issue. Their lawyers plan to file an official request. If the IOC continues to struggle and still doesn't admit them the decision will be instantly challenged in order to make it before the Olympics.
Philipp Birch, lawyer: "We have to act quickly and we will. We hope that the CAS will make the IOC admit the athletes".
The Russian Olympic Committee will also try to persuade the IOC to admit the Russian athletes.
Pavel Kolobkov, Minister of Sports: "Of course the IOC claims they are doing it for the truly clean athletes. Well, the CAS confirmed that our athletes are clean and deserve to participate in the Olympics".
Dmitry Guberniev, sportscaster: "We're beginning to cleanse the honor of our sports and our athletes. We must continue filing requests to the IOC in order to let them participate — that's what important".
By the end of the day, the list of the admitted athletes will be put together.
Yelena Välbe, President of Skiing Federation: "We've been training and we plan to win. Today’s news is obviously good for every athlete".
Not just good, crucial. Our 28 athletes upheld justice and defended their reputation and the reputation of the Russian sports. And they're not going to stop here.
The decision of the CAS is a crushing blow to the reputation of the IOC. If McLaren, Oswald, and Rodchenkov had insufficient evidence why did the IOC consider their allegations? Perhaps the subject is too touchy. It's easier to start a new attack. And it seems the story is far from being over.
Anastasia Efimova, Alexander Peshkov Vesti, Geneva, Switzerland