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Russia Faces Possible Suspension From Paralympics In Rio


Russian Paralympian Roman Petushkov celebrates his gold medal in a biathlon at the 2014 Sochi Paralympic Games in March 2014.
Russian Paralympian Roman Petushkov celebrates his gold medal in a biathlon at the 2014 Sochi Paralympic Games in March 2014.

Russia is facing possible suspension from the Paralympic games in Rio in September as a result of a report this week finding widespread doping and cover-ups by Moscow.

The International Paralympic Committee announced on July 22 that it opened suspension proceedings against Russia in light of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) report and will announce a decision during the week starting August 1.

The announcement comes as the International Olympic Committee readies a decision on banning all of Russia's athletes from participating in the Rio Olympics next month based on the report.

"The report revealed an unimaginable scale of institutionalized doping in Russian sport that was orchestrated at the highest level. [Its] findings are of serious concern for everyone committed to clean and honest sport," said Paralympic Committee President Philip Craven.

He said his committee has received names of Russian Paralympic athletes associated with 35 "disappearing positive samples" from a Moscow anti-doping laboratory which were highlighted in WADA report.

The committee is sending 19 samples from the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games held in Sochi for immediate further analysis, after they were identified as potentially doctored, he said.

The Paralympics take place in Rio from September 7 to 18.

Based on reporting by AFP, AP, and Reuters

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