The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) is reportedly set to ban all Russian athletes from competing in this summer’s games in Rio de Janeiro.
According to reports in The Observer the IPC will announce the decision at a press conference in Rio on Sunday.
The committee provisionally suspended Russia following the publication of the McLaren report which revealed, in astonishing detail, systemic doping in the country.
The Observer’s Owen Gibson is reporting that the decision was made after gathering further evidence from McLaren and giving the Russian Paralympic Committee the opportunity to make its case.
The committee held meetings with the Russians during the week to consider its written and oral arguments and, barring a late reversal, Russia will be banned on the basis that their system was so compromised it could not be trusted.
The IPC have gone further than their counterparts in the International Olympic Committee who decided decided not to issue a blanket ban on Russia, instead the governing bodies of individual sports were left to decide as to whether athletes within their discipline are allowed to compete.
