Image by Sang Hyun Cho from Pixabay
On the same day that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) announced a blanket ban on Russian athletes, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach in presenting the Olympic Truce to the United Nations General Assembly stressed the importance of importance of peace, solidarity and respect in sports.
The four-year suspension, in fact, goes beyond just about tainted Russian athletes and system. It also affects a great number of clean athletes, who have been put in an unenviable situation of having to prove their innocence.
“Russian athletes and their support personnel may only participate in Major Events staged in the Four-Year Period where they are able to demonstrate that they are not implicated in any way by the non-compliance with conditions including (without limitation) that they are not mentioned in incriminating circumstances in the McLaren reports, there are no positive findings reported for them in the database and no data relating to their samples has been manipulated, and that they have been subject to adequate in-competition and out-of-competition testing prior to the event in question according to WADA, in accordance with strict conditions to be defined by WADA (or the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), if it sees fit), pursuant to the mechanism foreseen in ISCCS Article 11.2.6. In this circumstance, they may not represent the Russian Federation. “
Russian high jump world champion Maria Lasitskene has slammed the decision as a disgrace and that she has no intention to change her citizenship and would fight to prove that Russian sport “is alive” despite having a neutral status.
Lasitskene is not the sole Russian athlete dissenting voice in this issue but is certainly one of the more visible and prominent voice.
Should innocent athletes be penalized as such when repeat offenders from other countries have been given numerous “second chances” or given reprieves under sketchier circumstances.
Take the case of American Christian Coleman, the fastest man in the world this year, who had broken anti-doping rules by missing three drug tests in 12 months and was facing an automatic one-year ban. His case was dropped on a technicality over dates, sparking many to declare the decision “unreal” and “crazy.”
It is a conundrum that WADA needs to seriously look into together with its signatories including the IOC.
It is almost certain that the IOC would endorse WADA’s recommendation that would see Russia being thrown out from the Tokyo 202 Olympics and Paralympics. After all IOC was a close partner in WADA’s formation and provides half its funding. The IOC had recently objected to any blanket ban, but that stance can always change.
While WADA has taken the drastic step to penalize Russia to stop the scourge of doping, it also has to look into its own ability to stop doping in general.
Truth be told, it was not WADA’s foolproof system that caught the Russian doping infringements but the information given by a whistleblower.
Of the thousands of testing done by WADA, less than 2% are positive. Many guilty athletes have gone undetected and still do.
There is no doubt that RUSADA, Russia’s anti-doping agency, was complicit in hiding, altering and destroying evidence of doping among elite Russian athletes. It was the second time that RUSADA had violated the anti-doping charter.
RUSADA has 21 days to appeal to CAS, the world’s highest sports court, but it is highly unlikely that with the evidence stacked against the body, the CAS would be sympathetic towards the Russian cause.
CAS ruling would inadvertently affect the many innocent athletes caught in the fiasco through no fault of their own.
Let Hundred Guilty Be Acquitted But One Innocent Should Not Be Convicted’
Although WADA’s ruling allows Russian athletes to compete at international events as ‘neutral athletes’, is it fair on athletes who have done nothing wrong?
Representing their home country, immaterial of its political or moral standing, is something that all athletes look forward to. Countries like North Korea, Iran, Sudan, Israel and Cuba may be labeled rogue countries by some, but athletes representing these countries take pride in representing their country at sporting events. Denying them the chance of national pride needs to be re-looked into.
The blanket bans also affects the running of a number of international events including the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar.
The ruling does not stop Russia from taking part in the qualifying tournament for the World Cup, but their participation at the Finals if they do qualify raises a legal question.
FIFA does not have any provision for ‘neutral teams’ to participate in their marquee event or for any other competition. FIFA’s statutes make clear that the World Cup is a tournament for its national member associations and teams play only on that basis.
If FIFA does not change their statutes, Russian players, not guilty of doping, would not be able to play under any circumstances in Qatar. And if FIFA does change their statutes to allow ‘neutral teams’ to participate, they may also be caught in future legal wrangles.
Imagine that the Russian team, playing as neutrals, win the World Cup in Qatar. Will the celebrations back in Russia be muted or would they celebrate by waving the ‘neutral flag”?
Stopping the flag from being raised or the national anthem being played is not going to eradicate doping.
Is Russia the biggest offender in doping? WADA’s own record for 2016 seems to paint a different picture. Italy are the biggest culprits with more than double of the numbers the Russians are implicated.
The full WADA report on the Anti Doping Rule Violations can be seen here.
What actions are being taken to counter the higher doping violations by Italy, France, the USA, Australia and Belgium or even India.
That an athlete, who has never been infringed the doping code, would not be allowed to represent his/her own country while offenders like Justin Gatlin, Maria Sharapova can, albeit after serving suspension, is pretentious.
By all means punish the guilty but not by making the innocent guilty by association.
About Post Author
