Dick Pound, the investigator whose "coruscating investigation" into Russian track and field led to it being suspended from int'l competition, said that Russian athletics is not devoting "enough energy" to rid itself of doping and has a "steep hill" to climb if it wants to compete at this year’s Olympics, according to Sean Ingle of the London GUARDIAN. Pound said, "There seems to be some evidence that they're just changing deckchairs on the Titanic. My guess is that Russia may not make it back for Rio." His comments came ahead of a two-day meeting of the IAAF in Monaco where "Russia's participation in the Rio Games is to be discussed." Pound's investigation was made on a day when WADA President Craig Reedie revealed that his organization had "lined up two investigators who were ready to go to Russia to set up a new anti-doping unit." Reedie said, "There is a lot to do here, in both the IAAF investigation into Russian Athletics and our own investigation into the Russian Anti-Doping Agency. We see the single most important thing that needs to be done is an agreement with RUSADA -- at the earliest possible moment -- that they will fund two independent experts to go and live in Moscow." Pound said that the fact that, as he put it, "he was being sued by the Russian bank," VTB -- for suggesting that its sponsorship deal with the IAAF needed "forensic examination to ensure legitimacy of the process applied" -- also indicated that the mindset had not shifted (GUARDIAN, 3/9). REUTERS' Martyn Herman reported last week a German TV documentary "contained fresh allegations of malpractice in Russia's anti-doping system." Pound: "We said to them at the time if you stop complaining about the (WADA) report you have a chance. ... We knew it would be a stretch for them but if they devoted themselves, heart and soul, to getting it done, it would be possible. Yet here we are four months later and I think somehow they must have convinced themselves that it would go away" (REUTERS, 3/9).
