MINSK, 31 January (BelTA) – The Belarusian men's canoe and kayak national team would prefer victories at the 2016 Olympic Games over wins in court, head coach of the team Vladimir Shantarovich said during the talk show on the Belarus One TV channel, BelTA has learned.
“We would prefer to celebrate victories in Rio than wins in court. Over the past eight years the International Canoe Federation (ICF) demonstrated their annoyance with the successes of our team. They tirelessly looked for some violations but with no success,” the head coach noted as he commented on the CAS decision to overturn the one-year suspension on Belarus' senior men's canoe and kayak teams.
Physician of the national team Yelena Kallaur stressed that the team brought no prohibited substances to their training camp in France in April 2016 and violated no laws. According to the doctor, the ICF's biased attitude towards the Belarusian team was evident throughout the inquiry.
The well-known Belarusian athletes and sports specialists who took part in the talk show were unanimous that the International Canoe Federation should be held accountable for their decision to ban the Belarusian athletes from the Rio Games 2016.
As BelTA reported earlier, Belarus' senior men's canoe and kayak national team was preparing for the Rio Olympics in France when they had a surprise visit and a search by police. The ICF accused Belarus team of the use of banned substances. The team was unable to participate in the 2016 Summer Games. Belarus applied to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne. The CAS refused to fast-track the proceedings. The hearing was held in Switzerland on 7 November. The ruling was announced on 23 January 2017. The Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned the one-year suspension on the Belarusian men's canoe and kayak national team imposed by the International Canoe Federation (ICF) due to accusations of violating anti-doping rules.
