The report from WADA’s Commission stated in particular that the commission’s investigation registered a total of 643 cases of Disappearing Positive Test Results in Russian Federation between 2012 and 2015 involving athletes from 30 sports. “Once the games are over, that’s something we’ll all look back on and (wish) was handled better throughout the quadrennial, not just before the Olympics”. The CAS decision could force other federations, who were asked by the International Olympic Committee to recommend which Russians could compete, to reconsider their lists.
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Russian breaststroker Yulia Efimova said yesterday she would take part in the Rio Olympics, a day after winning an appeal against a doping ban, but there was no immediate confirmation from swimming’s governing body FINA.
“The best that could be said of the International Olympic Committee in the circumstances is that it fumbled the ball and, in the process, may well have scored an own goal”. I do not suggest this can not be done.
“For an athlete that’s clean, it’s really frustrating for me to see that”, Canadian swimmer Ryan Cochrane said.
Pound uses the editorial to put forward possible responses by which the International Olympic Committee could improve its stance, including introducing greater protection for whistleblowers and the allocation of more money and power to WADA to carry out investigations.
“It has to be made much clearer that such cheating has no place in Olympic sport”.
The IOC should pressure all stakeholders in the World Anti-Doping Agency to end its the chronic underfunding and provide the money necessary to carry out its responsibilities.
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According to the details, the commission claimed it had found evidence that Russia’s Sports Ministry and the center for the Training of Russian National Teams and the Federal Security Service had covered up a doping programme in Russian sports. All such decisions should be appealable to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but without the provisional sanction being lifted pending the outcome of the appeal. The IOC boss said the sports extravaganza would send a message of hope to the watching world.
