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Russia appeals to Swiss court over CAS ruling

Russian Paralympic Committee president Vladimir Lukin, pictured on August 24, 2016, said the committee appealed to the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland over the Court of Arbitration for Sport's ruling to reject an appeal for Russians to compete

Russia has appealed to the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland over the Court of Arbitration for Sport's ruling to reject an appeal that would have allowed Russians to compete in the Paralympics. "We have appealed to Swiss justice (over the CAS ruling)," Russian Paralympic Committee head Vladimir Lukin told Interfax news agency on Friday, without giving any further details. Lukin added that at least 266 Paralympians were to launch individual cases at the European Court for Human Rights. Russia last week appealed a decision by the International Paralympic Committee to suspend the country over evidence of state-sponsored doping, something that saw all of its track and field athletes bar Florida-based long jumper Darya Klishina barred from the Olympics. After the Lausanne-based CAS announced it had rejected Russia's Paralympic appeal on Tuesday, Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko condemned what he called a "political" decision. President Vladimir Putin said the decision was "outside the law, morality, humanity". Russia narrowly escaped a blanket ban from the Rio Olympics last month when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) left it up to world sports federations to determine which Russians were eligible to compete while granting itself a final say. Russia finished fourth in the Rio medal table with its 56 medals, including 19 gold. The Paralympic Games run from September 7-18 in Rio.