Thread by @tariqpanja

NYT 🚨-- Russia’s Doping Ban Is Halved by Court of Arbitration for Sport, But Remain Banned From Next 2 Olympics and Soccer World Cup in 2022

nytimes.com/2020/12/17/spo…

Russian teams and athletes cleared to participate will only be able to as neutrals, while flag, anthem and other insignia will also be barred

Ban covers Vladimir Putin, too. According to the CAS ruling, the Russian president and other senior Russian government officials will be barred from the Olympics and other top sports events for two years.

The ban stands unless the prime minister/president of the host country invites

Feel the hand of the IOC in the initial ban on officials from the Russian Olympic Committee being lifted by CAS. Under WADA's original punishment they were also to be barred from events for the duration of the punishment.

Shame the CAS panel didn't explain why it watered down several aspects of the original penalty. Here are some examples:
1. Before athletes had to prove they were not linked to the doping program. Now WADA has to link them to it. Much harder to prove beyond doubt.

2. Ban on officials from the Russian Olympic Committee has been lifted.

3. The word "Russia" can be used on uniforms provided they also contain language referring to the participant as a "neutral". That was not the case before.

4. The ban on politicians from president down now contains proviso that they can attend should they be invited by a head of state. Can't imagine the Japanese PM saying no to Putin.

US antidoping agency head Travis Tygart not holding back from criticising a CAS decision he believes is “devastating” and one that “put politics over principle”.

The CAS verdict does raise questions about the CAS process and how the panellists arrive at their conclusions, and what justifications there are for watering down the various aspects of the punishment. But given there's such little transparency with CAS we will never know.

Initial reaction from Russia suggests, they’re not too unhappy with what went down at CAS. Ice hockey federation playing up the parts that were watered down by the 3 CAS arbitrators