Pound has criticized the IOC's handling of Russia's doping scandal for two years.GETTY IMAGES
The IOC on Wednesday told its longest-serving member, Dick Pound, that he was "free to leave the organization" after the Canadian labeled fellow members "old farts" for not "being tougher on Russia over doping," according to Karolos Grohmann of REUTERS. Pound "has been a vocal critic in the media of the IOC’s handling of the Russian doping scandal for two years." But he has "never voted against the IOC’s decisions on Russia" regarding Rio 2016 or Pyeongchang 2018. IOC spokesperson Mark Adams said, "In the end, if you don’t like the coffee, if you don’t like the decor or the prices, you can go to another coffee shop." Adams was responding to the latest criticism by Pound, who said that athletes "should scare the IOC by threatening to stay away from the Games unless the IOC got tougher on doping." Pound said, "The only people that scare these old farts are athletes saying, 'If you won’t clean this up, we’re not going to participate in these events.'" Ninety-eight out of 100 IOC members voted in favor of the exec board's decision on "Russia's participation as neutrals at the Games," with two abstentions, including Pound (REUTERS, 2/21).
