“It was only when CBS 60 Minutes and the New York Times, on 8 and 12 May 2016 respectively, published the allegations from the former director of the Moscow and Sochi laboratories, Dr Grigory Rodchenkov, that WADA had concrete evidence suggesting Russian state involvement that could be investigated by initiating the McLaren Investigation, which we did immediately”, said Reedie.
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Bach said “justice has to be independent from politics” and added that “whoever responds to a violation of the law with another violation of the law is destroying justice”.
“With the Olympic Games just a few days away, we had to take action even though the McLaren report is not yet finished and the Russian side has not been heard yet”.
With four more days to go until the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games Rio 2016, the IOC Executive Board met with the IOC Athletes’ Commission this morning to discuss important topics ranging from the protection of clean athletes, athletes’ representation in National Olympic Committees (NOCs) and International Federations (IFs), to IOC Athlete Programmes, and the Commission’s mission during the Games and the elections now underway.
“It is not the reputation of the International Olympic Committee that needs to be restored but the reputation of WADA”, Gilady said.
Morozov and Lobintsev were two of three swimmers banned by FINA (the world swimming governing body) based on their inclusion in the McLaren Report last month on alleged state-sponsored doping within Russian Federation.
“I urge you to resist this unprecedented pressure that is now on the entire Olympic movement and not to let this pressure to split the entire Olympic family”, he said.
With time running short for contributions, American IOC member Larry Probst made a short point in response to Zhukov’s claim that this was about geopolitics and demonising Russian Federation.
Andy Hunt, the head of World Sailing, says “if it was absolutely necessary, we could still carry on competition, but it would just be logistically very hard”. “And it’s not just Russian Federation, it’s global”.
Stepanov, whose wife, the runner Yulia Stepanova, has been excluded from the Games over drugs, told the French sports newspaper L’Equipe that the International Olympic Committee “does not want whistleblowers. does not want people who tell the truth”.
“If there was to be one exception, it should have been her”, Richard Peterkin of St. Lucia said.
Bach rejected the “nuclear option” of ordering a complete ban on Russian athletes over accusations of widespread state-organised doping.
“It saddens me to say this, but at times WADA has seemed to be more interested in publicity and self-promotion rather than doing its job as a regulator, acting with transparency, and looking after the best interest of clean athletes”, Werthein said.
The IOC said the “provisional measures” would apply until December 31, and be reviewed by the IOC that month.
“Pound complained that, before the executive board’s decision, rank-and-file International Olympic Committee members “‘were not asked for our opinion and had no chance to give it”.
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“The arrow has left the bow”, Pound said, adding that it made little sense to oppose a decision that had already been taken.
