FINA bans 7 Russian swimmers

Swimming's world governing body yesterday moved swiftly to ban seven Russians from competing at next month's Rio Olympics in the fall-out from Russia's rampant state-run doping

Paris: Swimming's world governing body yesterday moved swiftly to ban seven Russians from competing at next month's Rio Olympics in the fall-out from Russia's rampant state-run doping.

Vladimir Morozov and Nikita Lobintsev, both 4x100m freestyle bronze-medal winners with the Russian team at the 2012 Olympics, and Yulia Efimova, another 2012 Olympic bronze medallist, were among the seven banned.

"FINA acknowledges and supports the IOC's position in respect of the participation of clean Russian athletes to the Olympic Games in Rio," a statement said. "The WADA report has shown that anti-doping rules... and the WADA Code were not correctly implemented in Russia," it added.

"The exact implication for the Russian Swimming Federation is still to be clarified. For this purpose, the matter has been forwarded to an ad hoc commission."

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