IOC President Thomas Bach on Wednesday said that allegations of Russian doping at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics would represent a "shocking new dimension" and an "unprecedented level of criminality," if proven to be true, according to Karolos Grohmann of REUTERS. Citing the former head of Russia's anti-doping agency, the N.Y. Times reported last week that Russian anti-doping experts and members of the intelligence services "secretly broke into tamper-proof bottles to replace urine samples tainted by performance-enhancing drugs with clean urine collected earlier." Bach said, "If these allegations are true we will hold everybody responsible who is implicated and there are different kinds of actions that are possible. ... Should the investigation (into Sochi) prove the allegations true it would represent a shocking new dimension in doping with an, until now, unprecedented level of criminality" (REUTERS, 5/18). The BBC reported Bach said that more Russian sports federations "could be banned if the latest allegations of state-aided doping are proven." Bach said that the IOC would apply a "zero tolerance policy not only with regard to individual athletes, but to all their entourage within its reach." Bach: "This action could range from lifelong Olympic bans for any implicated person, to tough financial sanctions, to acceptance of suspension or exclusion of entire national federations like the already existing one for the Russian Athletics by the International Association of Athletics Federations" (BBC, 5/18).
REFUSING TO SPECULATE: The PA reported Bach has "refused to speculate on Russia's chances of being thrown out of the Rio Olympics completely." Bach said that Russia's Rio chances "hinged on the issue of individual versus collective responsibility and will depend on what facts a new World Anti-Doping Agency investigation unearths." Bach, a trained lawyer, "would not be drawn on possible sanctions for Russia during a 30-minute conference call with international journalists on Wednesday." He said, "We cannot speculate on what the decision will be, we have to take it based on the facts of individual justice versus collective responsibility. (Any sanction) for a wider community depends on the degree of involvement of such a community. If the allegations are true, we'll apply zero tolerance, but we'll make decisions based on facts" (AP, 5/18). In Sydney, Chris Barrett wrote Australian Olympic Committee John Coates said, "If we don't get you at the Games, we'll get you later." That was the message from Coates as he "reiterated that the IOC would not be afraid to ban Russian track and field athletes from Games superpower Russia in Rio de Janeiro." IOC VP Coates used his appearance at the athletes' farewell dinner in Sydney to "reinforce the likelihood of severe consequences for Russian sport if, as expected, its already sullied image is trashed further by being caught up in the re-testing of samples taken in Beijing in 2008." Coates said that "he had not been told if any Australians were implicated among the 31 Rio-bound athletes across 12 countries who recorded positive tests but it appeared unlikely as national Olympic committees were beginning to be informed on Wednesday" (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 5/18).
