All Russian Athletes Banned From Paralympics

The International Paralympic Committee has banned the entire Russian paralympic team from competing in the Rio de Janeiro games.

Sir Philip Craven, President of the IPC, said told a news conference in Rio his committee had listened to the evidence of experts and to submissions from the Russians and decided what action it needed to take.

He said the decision was based on a report on the Sochi 2014 Olympics and Paralympics by Professor Richard McLaren, sponsored by the World Anti-Doping Agency, which found evidence of state-sponsored cheating.

The report found that several samples taken from athletes who had taken part in paralympic events in Sochi had been tampered with.

The report also found evidence of the swapping of doped urine samples for clean ones through holes drilled in the wall of laboratories.

WADA previously recommended that Russia's entire team be banned from the Rio Olympic Games but the International Olympic Committee decided only to suspend some Russian athletes.

Sir Philip said: "(The IPC) is strongly of the view that the Russian Paralympic Committee is currently unable to ensure compliance with... the IPC's anti-doping code and the world anti-doping code within its own national jurisdiction.

Video: Analysis: What Does It Mean For Russia?

"Therefore, it cannot fulfil its fundamental obligations as an IPC member and as a result the IPC governing board has resolved to suspend the Russian Paralympic Committee with immediate effect.

"This means... the Russian Paralympic Committee will not be able to enter its athletes into the Rio 2016 Paralympic Games."

Sir Philip said he had deep sympathies with Russian athletes who will not be able to compete, but added that the doping culture that the report had found stemmed from the Russian government.

He added: "At the same time as feeling great sympathy towards the Russian athletes, we must not forget the feeling of those athletes from their nations who competed at the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter games.

"Now it has been revealed that the sample swapping regime in the Sochi laboratory took place during the winter games, some athletes may be questioning whether the results from the Sochi 2014 will change."

Video: July: All Russian Teams Face Ban From Rio

The British Paralympic Association put out a statement immediately afterwards, saying: "While we have real sympathy for those individual Russian Paralympians not going to Rio who train and compete clean, it is crucial for the integrity of our sport that those involved as well as the public feel confident that all necessary measures are in place to tackle doping and the playing field is level.

"The British Paralympic Association therefore congratulates the IPC on taking a clear stand."

Russian newsagency Interfax reported that Russia will challenge the decision of the International Paralympic Committee to suspend Russian athletes from the Paralympic Games, according to the president of the Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC) Vladimir Lukin.

He told the newsagency he would file a lawsuit against the IPC in the Sports Arbitration Court in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Under IPC rules, the RPC has 21 days to appeal.

The Paralympics take place after the conclusion of the Olympics and begin on 7 September.

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