Russia’s involvement in next month's Olympics "was placed in serious jeopardy" when the IOC confirmed it was “exploring legal options” as to whether to implement a blanket ban on the country ahead of the Rio Games, according to Ben Bloom of the London TELEGRAPH. Responding to widespread calls to ban the entire Russian team from Rio following the exposure of a four-year government-led doping regime, the IOC confirmed that "it would not grant accreditation to any officials implicated in the doping programme and would consider extending such a sanction to athletes." It also said that "it would begin retesting of samples provided by every single Russian athlete at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics," which a report commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency on Monday revealed were “sabotaged” by a mass doping cover-up. In deciding whether to implement a blanket ban on Russian athletes, the IOC confirmed that "it would wait to see" if the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturns an existing ban on the country's track and field athletes. CAS "is set to rule on Thursday after 68 Russian track and field athletes presented their individual cases to them in Lausanne, Switzerland" (
TELEGRAPH, 7/19).
IOC TAKES ACTION: In London, Jack de Menezes wrote the IOC has also confirmed that it has "started disciplinary actions related to the involvement of officials within the Russian Ministry of Sports and other persons mentioned in the report because of violations of the Olympic Charter and the World Anti-Doping Code," with Richard McLaren, publisher of the McLaren report that was commissioned by WADA, urging the IOC to name those involved in the alleged doping. The IOC has complied with McLaren’s request and has asked WADA to extend the mandate of the Canadian law professor to enable the names of those Russian athletes implicated in the "disappearing positive methodology" are communicated. It has also been announced that a special Disciplinary Commission "will be set-up in order to accelerate the procedures taken against Russia in order to determine any action that needs be taken against those within the Russian Ministry of Sports that are guilty" (INDEPENDENT, 7/19). The BBC reported despite his denial of any state-sponsored doping program, Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said that "he had suspended anti-doping advisor Natalia Zhelanova as well as Irina Rodionova, deputy head of Russia's state-funded Sports Preparation Centre, and two other officials." McLaren said that Zhelanova and Rodionova "had worked closely" with Russian Deputy Sports Minister Yury Nagornykh to cover up positive tests since '11. Nagornykh "has also been suspended" (BBC, 7/19).
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| Vladimir Putin |
SENDING A MESSAGE: In N.Y., Rebecca Ruiz wrote in its statement, the IOC said that the federations that govern individual sports "should
begin determining the eligibility of Russian athletes" while the IOC considered its options. World antidoping officials "urged Olympics officials to bar Russia from Rio after the report." U.S. Antidoping Agency CEO Travis Tygart said, "There ought to be a message that a state can’t do this and then show up at the Olympics." In response, Russia said that "such activism was politically motivated." Russian President Vladimir Putin "released a statement Monday, hours after the Sochi report was published," suggesting that the claims had been made "to make sports an instrument of geopolitical pressure; to formulate a negative image" of Russia (
N.Y. TIMES, 7/19).
MOVING OUT: The AP reported the IOC exec board wants winter sports governing bodies to "freeze their preparations for major events in Russia" and find host cities in other countries.
A figure skating Grand Prix in Moscow on Nov. 4-6 and a ski jumping World Cup on Dec. 9-11 in Nizhny Tagil "are the first events set to be moved from Russia." The request "is an interim order through 2016 which the IOC says its board will review in December." Events in early '17 "are also at risk from the provisional ruling" (
AP, 7/19).
COLD WAR THROWBACK: In Sydney, Nicole Jeffery wrote Putin "warned a ban could lead to a split in the Olympic movement, reviving the days of the Cold War boycotts in the 1980s." Putin said, "We are witnessing a dangerous relapse of politics’ interference into sports. The Olympic movement, which is playing a colossal uniting role for humankind, may again be driven to the brink of a split" (THE AUSTRALIAN, 7/20).
