Total ban: United States and Canada want all Russian teams kicked out of Rio Olympics
European Olympic Committees chief shocked by a North American-led call to throw the whole team out of the Games before crucial findings and evidence are presented in a report on Monday
A North American-led campaign to ban Russia from the Olympics has opened up an international divide on how to deal with the doping scandal engulfing Russia.
European Olympic Committees (EOC) president Pat Hickey said he was “shocked” by a move led by the United States and Canada to have Russia banned from the Games, which start in Rio on August 5.
Russia is already banned from international athletics because of a doping storm.
Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren’s report is due on his investigation of allegations that the Russian government manipulated doping samples taken at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics to protect Russian competitors.
Hickey said a US-Canadian attempt to get a blanket ban before the report had been released “has shocked and concerned me on a number of levels”.
“My concern is that there seems to have been an attempt to agree on an outcome before any evidence has been presented,” Hickey said. “Such interference and calls ahead of the McLaren Report publication are totally against internationally recognised fair legal process and may have completely undermined the integrity and therefore the credibility of this important report.”