Germany's athletics federation chief called on the IOC "to ban Russian track and field athletes from the Olympic Games in Brazil this year." Clemens Prokop wrote to IOC President Thomas Bach ahead of a June 17 meeting of the Int'l Association of Athletics Federations which "is set to decide the fate of the Russian athletes." Prokop: "The findings of the recent past have shown that equal opportunities obviously have not been maintained. This means that not only were athletes cheated, but the IOC and the Olympic ideal have been deceived. The result can only be: The Russians must stay out" (REUTERS, 6/10).
Colombian officials on Thursday "arrested one of Latin America’s most notorious figures" who could be at the center of an int'l doping ring.
Authorities booked Colombian doctor Alberto Beltrán Niño, who could be extradited to Spain "to face charges of trafficking of doping products." Police nabbed Beltrán in a gym near Bogotá based on information gathered in an investigation "using an undercover agent who pretended to be a top-level athlete to gain access to Beltrán’s inner circle." Colombian media outlets have dubbed him “the king of world doping,” and he is the first Colombian ever arrested for alleged doping activities. Raids on his office "did not turn up any banned substances, but authorities are hoping to get access to computer data that they hope will open the door to his alleged links to high-level athletes across Latin America and Europe" (VELO NEWS, 6/11).
