"The Ad hoc Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has dismissed the application filed on 6 February 2018 by 32 Russian athletes against the International Olympic Committee (IOC)," the ruling read. "It has also dismissed the application filed on 7 February 2018 by 15 Russian athletes and coaches against the IOC."
"The CAS Panel found that the Applicants did not demonstrate that the manner in which the two special commissions (the Invitation Review Panel (IRP) and the Olympic Athlete from Russia Implementation Group (OAR IG) independently evaluated the Applicants was carried out in a discriminatory, arbitrary or unfair manner," it said in a press release.
The International Olympic Committee immediately welcomed the court's dismissal Russian athletes and coaches' appeals.
IOC Statement on CAS: We welcome this decision which supports the fight against doping and brings clarity for all athletes. #PyeongChang2018 #Olympics
— IOC MEDIA (@iocmedia) February 9, 2018
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)'s president also welcomed the arbitration court’s decision to dismiss the appeals as good news for clean sport.
Earlier, Russian athletes, who have been denied an invitation to the games, have filed a suit against the International Olympic Committee with the Court of Arbitration for Sport demanding to urgently oblige the IOC to admit them to the Games
The court announced later that it will not hear the applications of six Russian athletes and seven members of their entourage, saying that it lacks jurisdiction to deal with the issue.
So far, the IOC has invited 169 Russian athletes to compete in the games. However, a number of leading Russian athletes have not received any invitation. Recently, CAS fully overturned the IOC ban for 28 Russian athletes, and 11 others got their appeals partially upheld. After the court stated its decision, President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach claimed there was a need to reform CAS.
