Russia doping tension marks IOC meetings

Sep 16, 2017 - 12:09 AM The raw feelings created by the Russian doping scandal spilled onto the floor and into the hallways of the International Olympic Committee meetings Friday, with less than five months until the South Korea Winter Games and still no decisions made about the fate of the country's athletes.

IOC members received updates on two investigations that will eventually determine Russia's status: firstly, on whether there was a state-sponsored doping program in the country; secondly, on the individual cases of athletes who were implicated in the scandal at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games.

The leaders of both investigations, which are using information from an earlier inquiry by Richard McLaren, urged patience and insisted they are working as fast as they can.

Still, a handful of IOC members made clear they're worried about the timing.

"A lot of progress has been made, but we're not there yet," said Camiel Eurlings, an IOC member from the Netherlands.

"I understand it takes a lot of time, but we cannot have this discussion just before the Pyeongchang Games. It must be clear months before."

In another report, IOC member Craig Reedie, who heads the World Anti-Doping Agency, said progress was being made toward reinstating Russia's suspended agency.

Russian IOC member Alexander Zhukov was encouraged. He reiterated what he told The Associated Press this week - he expects Russia to field a team in Pyeongchang.

Asked if a state-sponsored doping program existed in Russia, his answer was, simply: "No."

Russia's unwillingness to acknowledge this problem seems certain to stall the nation's re-entry into the sports world on many fronts - notably its anti-doping agency, track team, and Paralympic team.

IOC President Thomas Bach called it "only a small part" of the equation.

"It can be symbolic," he said.

"But an admission alone cannot help you forget what's happened in the past."

Urged by Bach, the IOC refused to ban the entire Russian team from the Rio Summer Games and instead sent the individual cases to the international sports federations. They only had a matter of days to determine the status of hundreds of athletes. More than 280 Russians participated, and given evidence of the state-sponsored, systemic doping program in the country, there were howls of protest across the globe.

Not wanting to see a repeat, a group of 17 anti-doping leaders released a statement Thursday calling for a complete ban of the Russian Olympic Committee from Pyeongchang.

That irritated some IOC members, especially Reedie, who took time in his presentation to assail the leaders.

"The comments made ... omit entirely all the work that's been done to develop proper anti-doping systems in Russia," Reedie said.

"It looks backward instead of looking forward. I want to make it quite clear that most of what they say in their press release is not policy, and is not helpful."

The McLaren Report said the doping scheme involved 1,000 athletes covering 30 sports, both winter and summer.

Source: AAP






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