The International Olympic Committee's call to leave any ban on Russian athletes to the individual sports federations has left a sour taste in the mouth of former New Zealand representative Moss Burmester.
"Hugely disappointed," said Burmester. "I think it's an absolute cop-out by the IOC."
"It's just soul-destroying for the athletes.
"There's going to be a huge cloud over every Russian athlete. It's not a level playing field."
The 35-year-old believes Russia was simply too big and too powerful for the IOC to go along with WADA's call for a total ban, following the damning McLaren report.
"The IOC is just so worried about Russia as a political power."
"Underhand payments too. You see it in a lot of sports and their governing bodies."
Burmester's former coach believes his 200 butterfly final at the 2008 Beijing Olympics was tainted by doping, and his fourth place should have been promoted to a bronze medal.
Newshub.
