Court confirms blanket ban on all Russian paralympians after state-sponsored doping scandal

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has upheld a decision by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) to ban all Russian competitors, meaning Russia will not compete at next month's Paralympics in Rio.

The IPC decision came in the light of the McLaren report which revealed Russia's state-sponsored doping programme.

CAS held that the IPC's decision to ban the entire Russian team "was proportionate in the circumstances," adding that the Russian Paralympic Committee had not filed any evidence contradicting the IPC's assertions.

The IPC's decision is in stark contrast to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which chose not to hand Russia a blanket ban from the Olympic Games, ignoring the recommendation of the World Anti-Doping Agency.

Over 270 Russian athletes were allowed to compete at the Olympics, with Russia winning 56 medals in total, earning itself fourth place in the medal table.

Alexei Karpenko, the lawyer for Russia's Paralympic team, confirmed the CAS decision was final, but added that they intended to file an appeal with the Swiss Federal Supreme Court, which would take between one and two years to be decided.