Vice-President of IOC: Committee unlikely to overturn Russia ban

Baku. 18 June. REPORT.AZ/ The International Olympic Committee is unlikely to overturn world athletics’ ban on the Russian track and field team at the Rio de Janeiro Games, Report informs citing the RIA Novosti, IOC Vice-President John Coates said.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) on Friday unanimously upheld its ban on Russian athletes competing at international competitions due to state-sponsored doping.

Coates said he would be “very, very surprised” if the IOC moved to overturn the ban at a summit on Tuesday in Lausanne, where the Olympic body is due to discuss the matter.

“It’s an international federation’s right to suspend a national federation and I don’t think we would overturn that at all,” Coates, one of the IOC’s most powerful officials, told reporters in Melbourne.