Cold War in Sports? Protests Grow Over Russian Athletes’ Ban From Rio

"Of course, if some athletes actually used drugs, they must be punished. But many Russian athletes did not use them and they have been banned nonetheless. This is an unfair decision that defies any reasonable explanation,” he added.

"A long time ago, the US, Canada and European countries started the so-called 'new Cold War in sports' with Russia. President Putin said that these countries boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics and also Russia’s boycott of the Los Angeles Games in 1984. Putin said those boycotts were a mistake. But this war still goes on, unilaterally being waged by the West,” Mostafa Shoughi said.

He added that many people in Iran believe that that even though the absence of Russian wrestlers and weightlifters in Rio could increase the country’s chances of winning medals there, failure by "clean” Russian athletes to compete in Rio would  damage the IOC’s image and scale down the importance of the world’s number one sporting event.

Legendary Serbian basketballer Zoran Slavnic minced no words when commenting on the Court of Arbitration’s ruling.

"This is a political decision, no doubt about that. I still hope it won’t stand and the CAS will eventually retract it."

Zoran Slavnic, who won everything he could in a career with his national team: 3 European Championships (1973, 1975, 1977), World Championship (1978) and Olympic Gold (1980), said the decision to ban the Russian athletics team from the Games reflected Western hostility towards Russia.

He also wished that the Americans had never boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics. As for the CAS’s decision, Zoran said: "It’s a pity that we have to watch all this roadshow, but politicians are  such a piece of [curse] always poking their nose in everything!”