Penza, 22 July 2016. PenzaNews. The situation concerning banning Russian track and field athletes from international competitions, including the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, is upsetting. This opinion was expressed by the Minister of Physical Education and Sports of the Penza region, vice-president of the Athletic Federation of Russia Grigory Kabelsky. 

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“I am really upset about it. First of all, I feel sorry both for the athletes and the trainers. […] We have real starts – Isinbaeva, for instance. The situation is extraordinary,” he said during the open training of the “Diesel” hockey club in the sports and recreation center “Lesnoy” in Zarechny on Thursday evening, July 21.

Grigory Kabelsky noted that the next issue that needs to be resolved is finding a way out of the situation.

On July 21 the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne rejected the appeals of 68 Russian athletes against the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) decision to ban them from the international competitions, including the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

The International Olympic Committee plans to analyze the CAS decision in the near future. It is expected that afterwards there will be issued a communiqué which will say whether the whole Russian national team should be banned from Rio 2016 Games.