IOC President Thomas Bach proposed an overhaul of the World Anti-Doping Agency’s operations on Friday, "including the creation of independent testing and professional intelligence-gathering units to avoid the type of scandals that have embroiled Russia and track and field," according to the AP. In a radical change, Bach "also recommended that all doping sanctions be handed down by the court of arbitration for sport," rather than by individual sports bodies or WADA. Bach said, "We are convinced that the adoption of these proposals would lead to a more efficient, more transparent, more streamlined, more cost-efficient, more harmonized anti-doping system. It would better protect the clean athletes and enhance the credibility of sports." Bach also said that Russia’s Olympic chief briefed him on "important first steps" that have been taken to reform the country’s anti-doping program following the suspension of its track and field federation. The Russian committee said that "it planned to expel the former Russian athletics federation president Valentin Balakhnichev from its executive body." Balakhnichev "has been accused of participating in a plan to extort money from marathon runner Liliya Shobukhova" (AP, 11/20).
BULGARIA BANNED: REUTERS' Karolos Grohmann reported Bulgaria's weightlifters "will be absent from next year's Olympics after the sport's governing body banned the country's athletes following a high number of doping cases." The Int'l Weightlifting Federation said, "Due to the special anti-doping policy for Rio 2016, the EB (exec board) confirmed that Bulgaria is not eligible to participate in the upcoming Olympic Games" (REUTERS, 11/20).
