“The duty of the IOC was to show that the athletes involved in this case were guilty of an anti-doping rule violation. The fact that you cannot establish the evidence of guilt does not mean that you have established the innocence of the athletes,” Reeb said in an exclusive interview with RT.

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The IOC and CAS have been on the brink of an open confrontation due to their conflicting decisions on Russian athletes over doping allegations. The Russian Olympic team was officially banned from the 2018 Winter Games, leaving a reduced delegation of Russian athletes eligible to compete at the Games under a neutral flag.

Some of the sportsmen turned to the CAS to gain admission to the Olympic Games, and last week the Lausanne-based court upheld the appeal of 28 athletes and coaches. However, the IOC still refused to invite them to the games, and even voiced the suggestion that “urgent reform in internal structure” is needed following the “extremely disappointing” decision.

While the CAS is the only arbitral body for resolving international sports disputes, it seems that the IOC made sure it has the final say in the showdown with Russian athletes and coaches. Just before the opening of the Olympics, the CAS ruled that the ban was an “eligibility” decision rather than a “sanction”, noting that the IOC was free to ban the athletes.

“The fact that they were not able to show the guilt of an athlete does not mean that they the athlete has nothing to do at all with the case, and is totally innocent,” Reeb said, calling it a “logical consequence.”

“There’s nothing bad about it,” he added.