CAS Denies Pressure to Exclude 45 Russians from South Korea Olympics

ST. PETERSBURG (Sputnik) - Matthieu Reeb, the secretary general of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) denied on Saturday being pressured to dismiss appeals by 45 Russian athletes against the International Olympic Committee's decision not to invite them to the Pyeongchang Olympics.

"The CAS Panels did not have any pressure from anyone in their work and CAS will keep on protecting its independence," Reeb told RIA Novosti.

Earlier, the Court of Arbitration for Sport dismissed appeals filed by 45 Russian athletes and two coaches who challenged the International Olympic Committee (IOC)'s decision to exclude them from South Korean Olympics.

IOC welcomed the court's decision on Russian athletes and coaches' appeals, saying it supported the fight against doping.

Recently, CAS fully overturned the IOC ban for 28 Russian athletes, and partially upheld appeals of 11 others. President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach commented on the decision, claiming that there was a need to reform CAS.

Nevertheless, a number of leading Russian athletes have not received any invitation, in the end, the IOC has invited 169 Russian athletes to compete in the games.