The head of the Russian Paralympic Committee said on Monday a decision to bar Russian athletes from taking part in next month’s Rio Paralympics over doping allegations was a grave human rights abuse.
Vladimir Lukin, president of the committee, told a news conference in Moscow most Russian paralympians were not guilty of doping and that he was ready to prove that the team had fulfilled all its anti-doping obligations.
“The overwhelming majority of sportspeople who were prevented from taking part in the Games were absolutely clean sportspeople,” said Lukin, saying he was ready to provide evidence that the Russian team had run a tight anti-doping programme.
Lukin was speaking after the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) President Philip Craven said on Sunday that Russia’s Paralympians were part of a broken system overseen by the Russian government and suspended the Russian Paralympic Committee ahead of the Sept. 7-18 Games.