“We want to coordinate our efforts to protect the clean athletes and strengthen the fight against doping, particularly in light of the upcoming Rio Games”, Bach said at the opening of the meeting of 20 sports leaders at a Lausanne hotel.
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Bach added: “We will have some interesting debate”.
The statement was made by the head of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Thomas Bach who commented on the decision by the IAAF Council and confirmed the disqualification of All-Russian Athletics Federation (ARAF).
Pole vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva said she’ll lead what could become a wave of Russian athletes appealing the ban on Russian participation in the Rio Olympics.
An umbrella meeting of some of the most powerful people in worldwide sports has “unanimously agreed” to respect the decision by track and field’s governing body to ban Russia’s track and field athletes from the upcoming Summer Olympics – but it also left open the possibility that some of those athletes could be cleared to compete in Rio.
While backing the IAAF decision, the summit also expanded the scope of the doping investigations to deal with all sports in Russian Federation and Kenya, two countries deemed non-compliant with rules of the World Anti-Doping Agency.
“We have long stated that individual athletes in Russian Federation are willing to demonstrate their innocence and prove they are clean”, it said. Even without those changes, the IOC seems committed to keeping Russians out of the games.
“The most pleasant thing for me personally today is that all athletes who win their cases will compete under the Russian flag”.
Four days prior to the commencement of the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, Rhodesia (now known as Zimbabwe) was expelled from participating, as other African countries threatened to pull out if Rhodesia took part.
It’s unlikely the IOC would allow an admitted doper to compete under the Olympic flag, so another solution would have to be found.
Should Russian athletes only be allowed to compete under a Russian flag, it would create a potentially hard situation for whistleblower Yuliya Stepanova, whose evidence effectively led to the revelations of systematic doping within Russian track and field.
Bach also lamented “deficiencies” in the global anti-doping system, which is suffering from a loss of public trust and confidence in the wake of so many scandals.
In addition to Russia, Kenya – home to numerous world’s top distance runners – is now deemed non-compliant by WADA.
A note has emerged that suggests the British president of the World Anti-Doping Authority, Sir Craig Reedie, failed to act quickly enough over the Russian doping crisis.
“For example, all track and field athletes had already agreed to undergo a minimum of three additional anti-doping controls carried out by the IAAF before the Olympic Games”.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport is the ultimate court of appeal for sports governing bodies and athletes.
Richard McLaren, the Canadian lawyer heading the independent probe, said Friday that his preliminary findings backed allegations that the Russian Sports Ministry was involved in manipulating test results before, during and after the IAAF world championships in Moscow in 2013.
That report is due out on July 15. If it uncovers further widespread, state-backed cheating in Russia, WADA could push for further action against Russia.
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That may be because things could still get worse for Russian Federation, as past and present presidents of WADA have recently said it could be thrown out of the Rio Olympics entirely, if the allegations about Sochi are proven.
