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[caption id="attachment_18529" align="alignnone" width="580"] Russian athletes to miss Rio Olympics failing dope test. File Pic[/caption] Internet Desk: Darkness prevailed over Russian athletics after Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) confirmed the failure of athletes in dope test. As a result 68 athletes of Russia will be unable to compete next month in Rio. Russia's athletics federation was suspended by the sport's world governing body, the IAAF, after an independent report found evidence of widespread doping. The Russian Olympic Committee and 68 athletes appealed against that decision but after hearing evidence from both sides, CAS has ruled the ban can stand. “CAS rejects the claims/appeal of the Russian Olympic Committee and 68 Russian athletes,” CAS said in a statement. Russia was suspended from global track and field events by the IAAF in November 2015. Despite that ban AIFF provided option for Russian athletes to join the Rio Olympic, if they could pass the dope test as neutral testing outside homeland. At least two Russian athletes - 800m runner and doping whistle blower Yuliya Stepanova and US-based long jumper Darya Klishina - have already taken advantage of that decision and the CAS ruling has cleared their way. Today after the declaration of CAS Russia has no chance to clear them as innocent. They can take the go for neutral testing. But the time it will take to come out with the result, will fail the dateline to join Rio Olympics. After the decision of CAS came out Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko reacted, “Unfortunately, a certain precedent has been established for collective responsibility,” for doping violations by individual sportsperson. He also expressed his regret. Reacting to this verdict Russian Olympic pole vault champion Elena Isinbayeva said, “funeral of athletics”.