Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko was implicated in the World Anti-Doping Agency report on the country’s alleged state-run doping scheme involving hundreds of Olympic athletes.
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Pound said he understands the International Olympic Committee delaying the decision for fear of legal reprisal from Russian athletes, but says they’ve missed an opportunity by not embracing WADA’s recommendations.
WADA was also requested to extend McLaren’s mandate so he can continue his abridged 57-day investigation, and the International Olympic Committee repeated last month’s calls for an extraordinary global anti-doping conference in 2017.
WADA has called for Russian Federation to be banned from global competition.
Russian Federation has five rowing crews entered for the Olympics after a sixth crew was disqualified earlier this month for a doping violation in qualifying. Russian Federation earned 39 violations in the category, though that number may be even higher in light of the new report on the country’s tampering with lab tests.
The IOCs legal options may become clearer after Thursday, when the highest court in sports will rule on an appeal by 68 Russian track and field athletes seeking to overturn their ban from the games. Russia’s lab in Moscow has also had it’s WADA accreditation pulled until the corruption could be eradicated. WADA also suspends Russia’s national anti-doping body, RUSADA, over non-compliance.
Russia’s Olympic Committee pressed on Wednesday with its preparations for the Rio Olympic Games despite the threat of a ban for state-run doping hanging over the country. “Furthermore, the Investigation reveals that State oversight and directed control of the Moscow laboratory in processing and covering up urine samples of Russian athletes was applied to all sport disciplines whose urine samples were being analyzed by the Moscow laboratory.” said WADA’s President Sir Craig Reedie in a statement.
But Dick Pound, who was WADA’s first president, said he feared the International Olympic Committee was loath to take such a step, leaving doubts over any athlete participating under the Russian flag.
FISA will facilitate a meeting of IFs on Thursday morning, 21 July 2016 to exchange information and understanding of the McLaren report; FISA has asked WADA to hold a meeting with IFs immediately following the release of the evidence referred to in the McLaren report.
Two-time Olympic pole vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva was among those arguing the Russian track and field teams case Tuesday in Geneva at the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
“The findings of the report show a shocking and unprecedented attack on the integrity of sports and on the Olympic Games”.
The World Anti-Doping Agency tasked McLaren with investigating the allegations and he uncovered a wider system of doping of Russian athletes and subversion of anti-doping rules that reached the highest levels of Russian sport.
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“This can only be achieved through the collective sanctioning (of athletes, officials and organisations) that has been recommended”. The head of that worldwide federation, Nenad Lalovic of Serbia, told The Associated Press “we will absolutely follow the decisions of the IOC”.
