As the Court of Arbitration for Sport today rejected Russia's appeal against the ban of its track and field team from the Rio Games, many newspaper editorial boards in North America and beyond are calling for a complete ban of the country's athletes from the Olympics. NEWSDAY writes the IOC "has no choice but to ban Russia" from the Rio Games due to a WADA report that concluded the Russian government "conducted a sweeping program to give athletes steroids and cover up positive test results." To "show it takes seriously its own ideal of fair play," the IOC "needs to respond to growing international pressure and speak clearly about the primacy of drug-free competition." The editorial states, "Russia should be kept out of Rio" (NEWSDAY, 7/21). The L.A. TIMES wrote if the IOC's by-laws allow it, it should "ban the entire Russian team from Rio." It would "send the necessary message that cheating is unacceptable, even if it is just for the sake of a game" (L.A. TIMES, 7/20). The TULSA WORLD wrote banning an "entire nation's team from an Olympic games is an ultimate penalty," but the evidence of "massive, organized, governmental cheating justifies it." The Russians have "taken cheating to a new level and the only way to prevent it from happening again is to make the penalties unbearably severe" (TULSA WORLD, 7/20). The Racine JOURNAL TIMES wrote the WADA report "taints everybody who presently competes for Russia." This is "unprecedented, and deserves an unprecedented punishment" (JOURNALTIMES.com, 7/20). The TORONTO STAR added anything "short of a complete ban on Russian participation would seriously undermine worldwide confidence in the Olympic movement's dedication to stopping fraud" (TORONTOSTAR.com, 7/18). The N.Y. POST noted athletic competition "should be a test of character, determination, and excellence -- especially on the Olympic stage." Russia's state-sponsored cheating "makes a mockery of those ideals." A ban "is the only reasonable response" (N.Y. POST, 7/20). The N.Y. TIMES: "The integrity of the Games, the dreams of athletes the world over and the imperative to proclaim Russia's behavior totally unacceptable all demand a blanket ban" (N.Y. TIMES, 7/19).
BEYOND THE BORDERS: The NEW ZEALAND HERALD writes given the "scale of the corruption, and Moscow's role in orchestrating the cheating, the IOC would be failing in its proper duty to do anything else than tell Russia to forget about Rio." The strong international demand for Russia to "pay a hefty price for its transgressions needs to be followed by an equally emphatic response from the IOC." Any measure that "stops short of across-the-board exclusion can only lead to the conclusion that the IOC, despite the lofty ideals it claims to hold, is not serious about eradicating cheating" (NEW ZEALAND HERALD, 7/21). The Melbourne AGE wrote, "Never before has any sport, let alone the Olympic Games with its core ideal of celebrating the very best of human achievement, witnessed such a huge government-ordered program of feeding banned drugs to athletes and then systematically covering up the evidence." It is a "shocking attack on the integrity of sports and on the founding ideals that underpin the Olympic movement" (THEAGE.com, 7/20). The GUARDIAN wrote the IOC's responsibility to "treat Russia fairly must be weighed against its responsibility to preserve the credibility of Olympic sports." Russia has been "caught in the act" (THEGUARDIAN.com, 7/19).
