IOC President Thomas Bach "expects Russia will comply with doping regulations in time for its athletes to compete at next year's Rio Games despite calls for the country to be banned amid allegations of state-backed cheating," according to Julian Linden of REUTERS. An independent commission set up by the World Anti-Doping Association "recommended Russia's athletics federation be banned from the sport following allegations of widespread corruption and collusion by Russian officials, which include covering up positive drug tests." The IOC said that "it wanted disciplinary procedures to be opened and warned that any competitors, coaches or officials mentioned in the WADA report who were proved to have violated doping regulations would be punished and stripped of medals." In an interview with New Zealand TV on Wednesday, Bach "would not speculate on whether all Russian athletes should be banned from the 2016 Olympics." He said that it was up to the Int'l Association of Athletics Federations "to determine if sanctions were necessary" (REUTERS, 11/11). The AP's Steve McMorran reported Bach said that the issue -- which he described as a "malfunctioning of a country" -- was now in the hands of the IAAF. Bach said, "The international federation will draw its conclusion and will take the necessary measures. We're convinced the new president, Sebastian Coe, will do whatever is necessary and we think also that Russia will cooperate to make progress and to make sure that Russian athletics is compliant with WADA, and this is what it needs to be in order to participate in the Olympic Games." Pressed on whether Russian athletes should be banned from the Games in Rio, Bach said, "I will not speculate on this." Bach "also refused to be drawn on whether the offenses found in Russia were only a part of much wider corruption in world athletics." He said, "Again, this is speculation. We should not take clean athletes into suspicion" (AP, 11/11). The BBC reported Coe said that the Russian Athletics Federation (ARAF) "had been asked to respond to the allegations by the end of the week." He said that after reviewing the feedback the IAAF "would look at a range of options, including sanctions," which could result in suspension from the sport (BBC, 11/11).
DIACK RESIGNS: The BBC reported former IAAF President Lamine Diack "resigned from his position as an honorary member" of the IOC. Diack "is provisionally suspended by the IOC while he is investigated by French police over allegations he took bribes to cover up positive drugs tests when in charge of the IAAF." He "had already resigned as president" of the Int'l Athletics Foundation, the charitable arm of the IAAF (BBC, 11/11).
RIO FACES BOYCOTT: The Sydney DAILY TELEGRAPH reported world sport "is bracing itself for a Cold War-style Olympic boycott if Russian athletes are banned." Russia and its allies pulling out of the 2016 Games "is considered a clear and present danger at the highest level of sport, with senior figures speculating on how Vladimir Putin and his government would react to being branded pariahs." A return to the "bitter divisions" of the '80s which spilled on to the Olympic stage was declared a "risk" by UK Athletics Chair Ed Warner. Putin and other senior Russian officials railed against the verdict, "reducing the prospect of reforms being implemented that would allow the nation's track-and-field athletes to enter Rio 2016" (DAILY TELEGRAPH, 11/11).
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Yelena Isinbayeva
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RUSSIA REACTS: In London, Glenn Ebrey wrote Russian athletics coach Evgeny Trofimov said that clean athletes "should not suffer as a result of the doping scandal which has tainted Russian athletics." Trofimov, who coaches Yelena Isinbayeva, the world-record holder in the women’s pole vault, said that banning the entire team in the wake of the scandal "would unjustly punish those who have played by the rules." Isinbayeva, a two-time Olympic champion, "is preparing for her fifth Games." Trofimov said, "Athletes who are clean should not suffer because someone has breached the Olympic charter. It’s very wrong, very wrong. Lena’s been in sport for 25 years. If she ends up not being able to compete, then we’re breaching the most basic law, the presumption of innocence." He stressed that Isinbayeva "has never used drugs and did not work with the Russian federation officials and medical staff criticised in the report" (LONDON TIMES, 11/11). REUTERS' Vladimir Soldatkin wrote the Russian Olympic Committee said on Wednesday that "it was urging international athletics organisations not to punish honest athletes when taking actions against doping practices in sports." The Committee said that "it supported the efforts" by the IOC and WADA in their fight against doping. The Committee said in a statement, "The Russian Olympic Committee calls ... to take into account the right of honest athletes to participate in international sports competitions, which should not be subject to limitations" (REUTERS, 11/11). REUTERS' Polina Devitt wrote Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said that a possible ban on Russian athletes in the 2016 Olympics would be because "some wish to remove a direct competitor and some find it beneficial to damage the country's image." Mutko added that the Russian Anti-Doping Agency "would be able to prove it acted in line" with the rules of WADA (REUTERS, 11/11).
PUTIN SPEAKS OUT: In London, Jack Farchy reported Putin called on Russia’s sports bodies "to co-operate with western investigators, sounding a conciliatory note in his first comments on the doping scandal that has engulfed Russian athletics."
However, the Russian president argued that the country’s athletes "should not be excluded from international competition en masse." Putin: “Responsibility should always be personal, and it is absolutely certain that athletes who had nothing to do with doping should not have to answer for those who broke the rules."
Putin’s comments demonstrate Russia’s concerns that the scandal "could prevent the country’s athletes from competing in next year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro."
Putin "did not suggest WADA had singled out Russia for criticism for political reasons, as some in Moscow have in recent days." He said, “I agree, the problem is not only a Russian one but if our foreign colleagues have questions, then they should be answered and this should be done in an open, professional, and fair manner" (FINANCIAL TIMES, 11/11).
