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The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) announced
on Monday that Russia was banned from top global sporting
competition for four years, including the upcoming summer and
winter Olympics, after determining that Moscow had interfered
with doping tests.
But while the ruling precludes Russian athletes from competing
under their own flag, those who can prove they are clean could
potentially enter the 2020 Olympics as neutral participants.
U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee Chair Susanne Lyons said the
U.S. board was skeptical such a determination would be possible.
"Considering the data manipulation that occurred – right up
until the 11th hour of WADA's investigation – it's going to be
incredibly difficult for clean Russian athletes to prove they’re
innocent," Lyons told reporters.
"It's very difficult for us to see how justice can be served and
how there will be a true deterrent against future corruption if
any of the athletes from Russia have the right to compete in
Tokyo under any flag, neutral or otherwise."
Lyons stopped short of endorsing a blanket ban, saying that it
was not for the USOPC to decide whether adequate means of
evaluating Russian competitors exists.
The saga is the latest black eye for Russia's powerhouse
athletic federation, after a 2015 report WADA commissioned
showed evidence of widespread doping by Russian athletes.
A defiant Russia criticized the use of collective punishment in
the sanctions and blamed politics, not its own sports officials,
for the ban.
(Reporting by Amy Tennery; Editing by Leslie Adler)
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