BLANKET BAN OF ALL RUSSIAN PARALYMPIC ATHLETES IS AN OUTRAGE: IT IS ILLOGICAL, UNJUST AND SHORT-SIGHTED.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has confirmed the decision of the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) to ban the entire team of Russian athletes from participating in the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The decision has resulted in an outcry of pain and anger from Russian society.

It was based on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s independent investigation, which argues that blood test samples of 35 Russian Paralympic athletes contained forbidden performance-enhancing drugs between 2012 and 2015. The names of the suspected athletes were not revealed, but the inconvenient truth is that because of a guilty few who should have been disqualified from the Paralympics for doping charges, 267 Russian athletes were unfairly banned from the Paralympic Games in Rio.

The fact that they had been preparing for the Paralympics for four years only adds to the feeling of injustice. In this case, the athletes became victims of the collective responsibility principle: if one suffers, then all must suffer. Collective punishment has a primitive resonance. It lacks focus, is disproportionate, and is, by nature, poor in its judgment. It suggests that responsibility is cultural, total, and institutional, flickering in the moment of vengeance. The idea of excluding a country wholesale brings with it dangers that decision makers may well not see. It eliminates specific, untainted talents who also deserve to be protected in international sport. It also violates that great presumption of innocence by pre-emptively judging the conduct of all athletes.

This decision may lead to the erosion of Olympic values, ​​and lead to the belief that all Russians practice doping, which, of course, is akin to stereotyping and oversimplification.

For reminder

The peak of interest toward Paralympic sport occurred during the 2014 Sochi Paralympics. The Russian Paralympic team consisted of 78 people, including 67 athletes and 11 assistants accompanying the blind athletes. It won 80 medals — 30 gold, 28 silver and 22 bronze, which brought them first place in the general team completion.

The Russian Paralympic team has always been strong and demonstrated good results during the London 2012 Summer Games as well: Russians won 102 medals, including 36 gold, 38 silver and 28 bronze, and took second place in the general team competition.