The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has rejected an appeal by 17 Russian rowers against their ban from the Rio Games, Olympic specialist website Inside the Games reported on Tuesday, with further bans expected to be upheld over the next two days.
Last week the sport's governing body FISA ruled that six Russians were eligible for the Games but banned 17, plus two coxes, after ruling that they did not meet the IOC's new criteria of being regularly drug-tested outside Russia.
The governing body had already previously banned three rowers who had served doping bans or who had been named in the McLaren report for WADA that exposed Russia's “disappearing positives” regime.
The rowers, along with several other Russian athletes from other sports, had their appeals heard by CAS on Tuesday and Inside the Games reported that the Court upheld the principle of athletes being ruled ineligible if they cannot effectively "prove they are clean.”
The bans have caused some last-minute reshuffling of the Rio rowing programme, after FISA said the six eligible Russian athletes could form one four-man crew.
Russia's lightweight men's four, men's and women's eight and lightweight women's double boats, have all been removed from the competition as a result of the decision of the FISA executive committee.
Greece is set to take the spot of the men's four, while the place of the men's eight has been given to Italy, which has also been handed Russia's berth in the women's lightweight double.
Australia has been offered the slot in the women's eight.
The tribunal has still to give a verdict on appeals by three swimmers, a wrestler and the Russian weightlifting federation. The tribunal has been holding special hearings in Rio to clear the appeals before the Olympics begin.
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