Amid widespread agonising within the International Olympic Committee over how to handle its biggest doping scandal, the final verdict could come less than 10 days from the Rio opening ceremony on August 5.
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Russian Olympic Committee head Alexander Zhukov said on Wednesday (Thursday NZT) he expected the IOC to make a final decision on Russia’s participation in the 2016 Rio Games on July 24, TASS news agency reported.
The IOC, which said it needed to study all “legal options”, has now signalled it will take every day possible for one of the most important decisions in Olympic history. The IAAF stands behind that call- though Russian Federation has gone ahead and submitted an appeal to the the Court of Arbitration of Sport.
But this week, a bigger question that affects athletes in all disciplines is being asked by head honchos at the International Olympic Committee (IOC): Should Russia be kicked out of the 2016 Olympic Games period?
Earlier on Wednesday, the ROC executive board approved the 387-member Russian national team, which includes 68 athletes.
The official made the comments to media today at a time when his country is still reeling from the findings of the McLaren Report, which outlined a state-sponsored Russian doping scheme at their home Winter Olympics in Sochi in 2014.
Thomas Bach, President of the IOC, expressed shock at this attack “on the integrity of sports and on the Olympic Games”.
But he added: “I do get the impression reading between the lines, however, that the International Olympic Committee is for some reason very reluctant to think about a total exclusion of the Russians”. “So I can not imagine it without Russian Federation”.
The Association of Summer Olympic Federations has also urged caution. In addition, the IOC Executive Board supported the announcement of the Olympic Summit on 21 June 2016 to reverse the “presumption of innocence” of athletes from Russian Federation with regard to doping. Our athletes will compete only in Russian uniforms and under the Russian flag. Its track and field team won’t be there, although that’s being challenged.
Zhukov said the majority of global sporting federations supported Russian athletes competing in Rio.
Mutko’s deputy, Yury Nargornykh, has been suspended along with four other leading sports officials.
Also in the documentary, her husband – a former employee of Russia’s anti-doping agency – said the agency would routinely get calls from the Russian sports ministry, which would help cover up positive test results for famous or especially promising athletes. That means several more weeks and months of inquiries.
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McLaren’s report detailed a system in which the Ministry of Sport, Center of Sports Preparation of the National Teams of Russia (CSP), the Federal Security Service (FSB) and labs in Moscow and Sochi worked together to cover up positive tests from 2011 until August 2015.
