CAS: Russian track and field athletes remain banned from Rio Olympics

Berlin (dpa) - Russian track and field athletes remain banned from next month‘s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro as the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on Thursday rejected appeals from 67 Russian athletes and the nation‘s Olympic Committee (NOC).The Russian athletics federation was banned by the ruling body IAAF last year and the ban was extended last month.The IAAF ruled that individual athletes would be able to compete at the August 5-21 Games in Rio under certain conditions, but only long jumper Darya Klishina has been cleared to compete.The 67 not eligible athletes, Klishina and the Russian NOC had appealed the ban before the CAS where a hearing was conducted Tuesday, im the presence of IAAF president Sebastian Coe. The CAS rejected the request of all athletes for arbitration and of the 67 apart from Klishina to compete in Rio.The CAS ruling could also affect a planned decision by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) on a possible exclusion of all Russian athletes from the Rio Games, expected by Tuesday (July 26).In its ruling, "the CAS Panel has confirmed the validity of the IAAF‘s decision to apply Rules 22.1(a) and 22.1A of the IAAF Competition Rules, which state that athletes whose national federation is suspended by the IAAF are ineligible for competitions held under the IAAF Rules, in accordance with the Olympic Charter."The CAS also said it has no jurisdiction in this case n to determine "whether the IOC is entitled generally to accept or refuse the nomination by ROC of Russian track and field athletes to compete at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games," be it as Russians or neutral athletes.