CAS starts hearing appeals by 32 Russian athletes

Pyeongchang (South Korea) Feb 7 (IANS) The Ad Hoc Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in South Korea started to review appeals by 32 Russian athletes against the International Olympic Committee s decision not to invite them to this year s Olympic Games.

A CAS source told the news agency TASS that a hearing into cases of all 32 applicants will be held on Wednesday. The date when the decision will be announced is not yet known it reported.

A total of 168 Russian athletes were invited to take part in the Olympics although the Russian Olympic Committee initially applied for 500.

On Tuesday 32 Russian athletes including biathlete Anton Shipulin cross-country skier Sergei Ustyugov and short-track speed-skater Viktor Ahn appealed their non-invitation at CAS.

As the IOC has suspended the membership of the Russian Olympic Committee Russians will take part in the 2018 Winter Olympic Games under the status of neutral athletes (OAR which stands for "Olympic Athlete from Russia").

The 2018 Winter Games will be held in PyeongChang South Korea from February 9 to 25.

--IANS
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