The International Paralympic Committee is set to do what its Olympic counterpart did not and ban Russia outright from its Games later this month, the Observer has learned.
In the wake of the publication of Professor Richard McLarenโs report that revealed jaw-dropping details of systemic doping in Russia, the IPC provisionally suspended Russia from the Paralympics.
It is understood that after gathering further evidence from McLaren and giving the Russian Paralympic Committee the opportunity to make its case, a provisional decision has been made. The IPC is to announce its decision at a press conference in Rio on Sunday.
The IPC board met the Russians in Bonn on Wednesday to consider its written and oral arguments in a three-hour meeting.
Barring a last minute change of heart, the Russian Paralympic Committee is likely to be banned on the basis that McLarenโs report proved that the Russian system was so compromised it could not be trusted.
McLaren, who discovered systemic doping across most Olympic sports over a period of four years as well as 35 โdisappearing positivesโ from Paralympic disciplines, this week accused the IOC of misinterpreting his findings.
Despite widespread calls for a blanket ban from Wada and national anti-doping agencies, the IOC instead left it up to international federations to decide if Russians could compete.
With only athletics, rowing, weightlifting and canoeing taking a hard line, the final size of the Russian team was announced at 271.
But several Russian athletes, including the swimmer Yuliya Efimova, could also be readmitted after the court of arbitration for sport ruled that the IOCโs ban on those who had previously served sanctions would not be upheld.
The IPC is likely to have come under extreme pressure to follow the IOCโs lead but is believed to be resolved to make its own decision based on the evidence.
Unlike the IOC, the IPC has been in touch with McLaren to seek further evidence and information. As well as the 35 โdisappearing positiveโ Russian drug tests across Paralympic sport between 2012 and 2015, the report confirmed the 2014 Winter Paralympics in Sochi was compromised by swapped samples, where Russia won three times as many medals as any other country.
โThey have consulted with me very closely. We have done forensic work with them, weโre in the process of doing analytical work. They were in contact with me within hours of my report being published,โ said McLaren this week.
The IPC president Sir Philip Craven is believed to view the decision as the most important and one of the most difficult his movement has ever faced.
โMcLarenโs findings are of serious concern for everyone committed to clean and honest sport. The additional information we have been provided with by Richard McLaren includes the names of the Para athletes associated with the 35 โdisappearing positive samplesโ from the Moscow laboratory highlighted in the report,โ he said last week.
โWe are also urgently following up on McLarenโs recommendation for 19 samples from the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Games to be sent for further analysis, having been identified as part of the sample-swapping regime in place during the Games.โ
