“It shows it’s more about the money than the sport!” Not when he talks darkly about returning to the days of Olympic boycotts in 1980 and 1984.
Advertisement
Meanwhile, the World Anti-Doping Agency is disappointed that Olympics leaders have rejected their plea to ban Russian Federation completely.
When Putin talks, Olympic officials listen. It insisted that “the “presumption of innocence” can not be applied to them”.
“Under these exceptional circumstances, Russian athletes in any of the 28 Olympic summer sports have to assume the consequences of what amounts to a collective responsibility in order to protect the credibility of the Olympic competitions”, said the IOC.
Spineless, yes, but that’s to be expected. No reason to let a little doping scandal get in the way of a cozy relationship that serves both sides so well. Unfortunately the Olympic flame burns a little less bright today.
“The decision regarding Russian participation and the confusing mess left in its wake is a significant blow to the rights of clean athletes”. “This is about doing justice to clean athletes all over the world”.
That means that while convicted cheats such as American sprinter Justin Gatlin will be present, there will be no place for two-time Olympic pole vault champion Yelena Isinbaeva, who has never been charged with doping, or whistleblower Yulia Stepanova, who had been cleared to compete as a neutral athlete.
The IOC’s executive board on Monday (NZ time) resisted a total ban of Russian Federation following the release of the McLaren report last week that revealed a state-backed doping system. “We are grateful to the International Olympic Committee for such a decision”, said Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko.
The unofficial explanation was more telling.
“The IOC decision was to be expected”.
New Zealand Olympic Committee’s secretary general Kereyn Smith.
“If you do have Russian athletes competing in other sports, the focus of the media are going to be on the Russian athletes in Rio and not the athletes who have proven to be clean and above board”.
The WADA committee had given its suggestion following its findings that Russia’s Sports Ministry and the Center for the Training of Russian National Teams and the Federal Security Service supported the doping programme in the country’s sports from late 2011 to August 2015.
Advertisement
It’s enough to make even the true believers wonder. About “80 percent” of the Russian team regularly undergoes global testing of the kind specified by the IOC, he said.
