WADA and many other anti-doping agencies had called for a complete ban after Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren issued a report that accused the Russian sports ministry of orchestrating a doping program that involved more than two dozen summer and winter Olympic sports.
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“This is not about destroying structures”, IOC President Thomas Bach said, referring to WADA. “Let us just for a moment consider the consequences of a nuclear option”. The result is death and destruction, that is not what the Olympic Movement stands for. Bach said the Russian Federation scandal along with Brazil’s political and economic crises had made the runup to the first Olympics in South America “challenging”.
The IOC has ordered individual federations which organise the sports contest at the Olympics to filter out Russian athletes who should be banned over the doping.
“What is therefore not acceptable is the insinuation by some proponents of this “nuclear option” that anyone who does not share their opinion is not fighting against doping”. “But we need to do a lot more to show we do more about fair play and clean competition”, he said.
“This is a situation we do not want to happen ever again in sport”, he said.
The IOC opted not to ban all Russian athletes from the Rio Olympics after revelations of a wide state-backed doping programme across many sports.
A Rio policeman told the Associated Press that 21-year-old cyclist Kim Ok-Cheol only suffered minor injuries and was rescued by a auto of the South Korea Olympic team. “We are witnessing direct interference of politics in sport”.
Bach had earlier defended the July 24 decision of the executive board to allow Russian athletes to the Rio Games which open on Friday. “It will be ruined fates and broken lives of athletes”.
When the International Olympic Committee declined to issue a blanket ban last month, it was acting under a time crunch and only the small but influential executive board had a chance to vote. After a debate lasting more than two hours, Bach asked for a show of hands, and only one of the 85 members Britain’s Adam Pengilly voted against his position.
Meeting in special session in Rio, CAS has already heard as many cases as it dealt with during the whole of London 2012.
“It (discussion) was not bad”.
Golf is back in the Olympics for the first time since 1904. “There is some disconnect and we will have to bridge that gap but it is doable”, Pound said.
While supporting the International Olympic Committee measures in general and calling for reform of the anti-doping system, some International Olympic Committee meanwhile criticised the exclusion of Russian whistleblower Yulia Stepanova as a wrong signal. “And this mission of a better sport includes a more robust and efficient worldwide anti-doping system”, he said.
Russia’s original Olympic team numbered more than 380. The main problem being is that there will be suspicions around all Russian competitors, no matter how unfair that may seem to clean competitors.
Meanwhile, the Court of Arbitration for Sport dismissed the International Olympic Committee rule that bars from the games any Russian athletes with prior doping sanctions, saying it amounts to sanctioning someone twice for one offence.
A final ruling on the entry of Russian athletes in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics is coming down to the wire.
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The International Boxing Association said all 11 Russian boxers who qualified for the Games had been given the all-clear.
