The Court of Arbitration for Sport is hearing an appeal in Geneva by 68 Russian athletes against the IAAF's decision to ban the Russian team due to widespread doping. The case is separate from the McLaren Report, which on Monday detailed a vast cover-up of Russian doping cases, alleging the Russian Sports Ministry ordered hundreds of positive test results to be concealed, including many in athletics. After receiving the evidence from the report it commissioned, the World Anti-Doping Agency called for the IOC to consider a ban of Russia's entire Olympic team. It started in 2011 and ended four years later " well past the time when Russian authorities knew they were under the doping microscope. Since the World Anti-Doping Agency first accused Russia of systematic doping in November, leading athletes, coaches, and officials have been suspended over drug use.

Source: New Zealand Herald July 19, 2016 09:11 UTC