Former WADA President Dick Pound "believes the power to clean up sport rests with the companies that pour billions into it," according to Mihir Bose of the London EVENING STANDARD. Pound led the WADA commission "which this month exposed Russia’s state-backed doping program for athletes and his team is preparing a second report into allegations of corruption within the IAAF." More than 90% of the £3.3B commercial revenues for the London 2012 Olympics "came from TV and broadcast rights and from commercial sponsorship." It "is this massive influence that Pound says must be harnessed for things to change." Pound: "If the sponsors as a whole said to sports we will only provide financial and promotional support if we are satisfied with your governance, it would have an impact. Most international federations feel pain only in their wallets. ... Sport is not telling it like it is [about drugs]. The problem is bigger than anyone cared to admit. It needs to be addressed otherwise the credibility and marketability of sport will disappear. And with that loss of private sector funding, you don’t have an international sports system" (EVENING STANDARD, 11/27).
