ICAS's Coates responds to Bach over IOC concerns

SYDNEY (AP) - The Court of Arbitration for Sport says it will "thoroughly examine" concerns raised by International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach over the court's decision to overturn lifetime doping bans on 28 Russian athletes.

In a statement Monday the president of the International Council of Arbitration for Sport, Australian John Coates, acknowledged Bach's concerns which will likely lead the IOC to appeal the court's decision.

The CAS, sport's highest court, ruled on Thursday there was insufficient evidence to uphold supsensions imposed by the IOC on the 28 Russians after an investigation into state-sponsored doping at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

Doping violations were confirmed against a further 11 athletes but their lifetime bans were reduced to cover only the 2018 Winter Olympics which open Friday in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Bach said the IOC would wait for a reasoned decision from the CAS before launching any appeal but called the decisions "extremely disappointing and surprising."

"We only know about the reasons for a very few sentences in a press release. So far the panel was not able to produce a reasoned decision which we are eagerly waiting for."

The CAS is not expected to produce that reasoned decision until the end of the month.

"We need the reasoned decision to see whether we have any prospect of success," Bach said. "If we have any such prospect, we will appeal."

In his statement Monday, Coates sought to assure Bach that the reasoned decision would be forthcoming shortly.

"The reasoned decisions in high profile cases are critically important," he said. "The panels in the cases of the 39 Russian athletes are working on them and we look forward to their publications as soon as possible."

Coates said athletes "are entitled to have confidence in judicial processes at all levels, more particularly before the CAS."