“What made these allegations even more egregious was the knowledge that the government of the Russian Federation provides direct funding and oversight for [Russian athletics and anti-doping efforts], thus suggesting that the federal government was not only complicit in the collusion, but that it was effectively a state-sponsored regime”, the report said.
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The commission has recommended lifetime bans for five Russian middle-distance runners – including gold and bronze-medal winners in the 2012 Olympics 800m – and five Russian coaches and administrators.
The head of the Russian federation has disputed the commission’s claim that systematic doping was being carried out in the country.
Russia should be banned from athletics competition because of widespread doping offences, the World Anti-Doping Agency has recommended, in a move that could see the powerhouse Russian team excluded from next year’s Rio Olympics.
A co-author of the commission report, Richard McLaren, said its investigation showed a whole different scale of corruption in causing “significant changes to actual results and final standings of worldwide athletics competitions”. “That is not to say we have presupposed or prejudged but we need to understand more about this”.
A ban would have huge ramifications on Russian Athletics if imposed by the worldwide Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).
“We call upon the IAAF and all other relevant bodies to implement the recommendations in full to ensure clean athletes can compete in major championships against athletes and nations who embody the integrity of clean sport”.
– World-Anti-Doping-Agency (WADA) sets up three-person independent commission to investigate claims headed by its former chief, Canadian Dick Pound.
“It’s worse than we thought”, Pound said.
However, Pound was open towards the idea of Russian Federation taking remedial steps and added that there is no intention to exclude people from the Olympics provided the athletes undergo therapy and are free of doping by the time they are ready for the 2016 Olympics.
The findings also criticized Russia for a “deeply rooted culture of cheating at all levels” and said that the Russian athletes who competed despite doping essentially sabotaged the 2012 Summer Olympic games because they shouldn’t have been allowed to compete in the first place.
Diack is the subject of a police investigation amid allegations he accepted money in exchange for covering up positive doping tests.
Pound agreed with the suggestion that the Russian situation amounted to “state-sponsored doping” but Coe declined to compare it with the Stasi-backed regime that turned East Germany into a sporting superpower in the 1970s and 80s.
Asked directly if sanctions could include banning Russian Federation from Rio, Coe replied: “It is possible that we could end up with a suspension, yes”.
The WADA panel further accused the Russian sports ministry of ordering officials to “manipulate particular samples”.
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– French police in Paris charge Diack with corruption on suspicion the 82-year-old Senegalese accepted bribes to cover up doping cases.
