The issue of Russia’s participation in the Games was raised after publication of a report by an independent commission of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) led by Dr. Richard McClaren of Canada, who charged the Russian authorities with conniving with the Russian athletes’ violations of the anti-doping laws.
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But both sides agreed on one thing – the need to fix the global anti-doping system and restore trust and credibility in the fight against drugs.
He also said that the International Olympic Committee has taken urgent measures to shed light on the allegations.
“This is about improving significantly a system in order to have a robust and efficient anti-doping system so that such a situation that we face now can not happen again”.
The ruling of the executive board was unanimous and proceeded from the decision of the Olympic Summit that had been supported by all the parties concerned, Bach said.
“WADA wishes to factually clarify that the agency acted immediately on allegations concerning Russian Federation when it had corroborated evidence and the power to do so under the World Anti-Doping Code”, it said.
“I don’t feel as if I’ve been run under a bus”, Reedie told reporters, insisting that both sides were in general accord on the need to find solutions for the future.
“Addressing corruption within the anti-doping system – including state or secret service interference in laboratory operations – will be one of the topics discussed” during a WADA conference in September, the agency said.
“I promise I will win a medal for the country”, Yadav said.
Bach, speaking at the 129th International Olympic Committee session in Rio de Janeiro, said that because of the seriousness of the charges, the International Olympic Committee could not maintain the presumption of innocence in relation to athletes from Russian Federation. 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.
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.
WADA said it acquired strong evidence of Russian state involvement in early May, when CBS’ “60 Minutes” and The New York Times published allegations by Moscow’s former lab director, Grigory Rodchenkov.
“Leaving aside that such a comparison is completely out of proportion when it comes to sport, let us just for a moment consider the consequences of a nuclear option – the result is death and devastation”, he said. “The cynical collateral damage approach is not what the Olympic Movement stands for”.
The IOC has been roundly criticized by many anti-doping bodies, athletes’ groups and Western media for not applying a complete ban on the Russian team.
Russian Federation has been at the centre of a new doping scandal after an independent investigator, Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren, said in a report that there had been widespread state-backed doping in Russian Federation.
Bach’s forthright condemnation of the WADA escalates the public feud between the Olympics and anti-doping bodies which has broken out of late.
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Israeli member Alex Gilady echoed that feeling.
