The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) would only enforce WADA’s decision to suspend Russia for four years after a final decision on the matter is made by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
The IPC in their statement said that the committee acknowledges the decision by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Executive Committee.
However it stated that in accordance with the WADA International Standard for Code Compliance by Signatories, any consequences would only come into effect following a final decision by the CAS.
Russia may yet see their athletes at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics if no decision was made before the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.
Once a final decision has been taken, it would be legally binding across all sports and bodies that are signatories of the World Anti-Doping Code, and must be recognised and enforced by all signatories including the IPC.
Following today’s decision, the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) has 21 days to either accept the proposed consequences or to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
The IPC agreed that those responsible for the manipulation of data from the Moscow Laboratory before it was transferred to WADA appeared to have done everything possible to undermine the principles of fair and clean sport, principles that the rest of the sporting world support and adhere to.
It added that the sincere lack of respect towards the rest of the global sporting movement was not welcome and has zero place in the world of sport. The IPC confirmed that was only right that those responsible for the data manipulation were punished.
It said that unlike in 2016, when the IPC was the organisation with a decision to make, it is WADA who on this occasion are taking the lead. The IPC thanked WADA for the work done in exposing this attempt to cheat the system.
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