Announcement of CAS decision on appeals filed by 47 Russians in 24 hours

The Ad Hoc Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has ended hearings on appeals filed by 45 Russian athletes and two coaches against the decision of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) not to invite them for participation at the Winter Olympic Games and the decision is to be announced in 24 hours, said Philippe Bartsch, a lawyer for the Russian athletes.

Bartsch said that they presented arguments proving that the specified athletes are clean.

The decision will be announced in the next 24 hours, and the lawyer hopes it will be positive, reports Tass news agency.

On Wednesday, CAS started hearing the appeals of 32 Russian athletes that the IOC refused to grant individual invitations to participate at the 2018 Games.

Among them are Olympic biathlete Anton Shipulin and Olympic short-track speed skater Viktor Ahn, as well as world skiing champion Sergey Ustiugov.

CAS also studied the appeals of 13 Russian athletes and two coaches who had been suspended from the Olympics for life by the IOC, but were later acquitted by CAS. The IOC commission, however, refused to send them individual invitations for the 2018 Games.

The athletes' cases were reviewed by a panel of arbitrators: chairman Carol Roberts (Canada), Bernhard Welten (Switzerland) and Zali Steggall (Australia).

The hearing was attended by the Russian luge team's coach Albert Demchenko, luger Tatyana Ivanova and skeleton athlete Elena Nikitina.

"We've come to protect our honour and we were heard by the CAS panel," Demchenko told reporters after the session.

The 2018 Olympic Games will run from February 9 to 25.

--IANS

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