The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will postpone the decision on the admission or non-admission of the Russian national team to the Olympics in Rio in order to study all the legal consequences associated with the violation of the right of individual athletes to participate in competitions. This is stated in a statement by the IOC Executive Board.
However, the IOC decided to double-check all the Russian athletes who participated in the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, initiate a disciplinary investigation against the Russian officials mentioned in the WADA report, and not grant accreditation for the Rio Olympics to officials of the Ministry of Sports or other Russian officials mentioned in the report.
Accusations against Russian officials of complicity in the rigging of the results of doping tests will be dealt with by a special disciplinary commission headed by the vice-president of the IOC ethics commission Guy Canivet. “The IOC initiated disciplinary action against officials of the Russian Ministry of Sports and others mentioned in the WADA report on violations of the Olympic Charter and the World Anti-Doping Code, and established a disciplinary commission,” the IOC writes.
The report of the WADA commission led by Richard McLaren includes, in particular, Deputy Minister of Sports Yuri Nagornykh, Advisor to the Minister of Sports for Anti-Doping Support Natalya Zhelanova, Deputy Director of the Sports Training Center (CSP) Irina Rodionova and Russian Minister of Sports Vitaly Mutko. Nagornykh and Zhelanova have already been temporarily suspended from their duties.
Mutko has already assured the IOC of full support for his decisions. “As Minister of Sports, I can say: we, like the IOC, are shocked and believe that today there is an unprecedented attack on the entire Olympic movement. And in this we stand in solidarity with the IOC and support its position. I can say that we absolutely share and support today’s decisions. We are ready for full cooperation with the commission created by the IOC, ”Mutko said to the TASS news agency.
The IOC is also “initiating a full cross-check, including forensic, of all Russian athletes who participated in the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, as well as coaching and support staff and officials,” the release said. For this, a special disciplinary commission is being established under the leadership of former IOC presidential candidate Denis Oswald. “Based on the results of the report of this commission, the IOC Executive Board will apply all the appropriate sanctions,” the statement says.
The IOC confirms the lifting of the “presumption of innocence” in relation to doping from Russian athletes. In this regard, the executive committee of the committee asks WADA to expand the mandate of Richard McLaren so that he could disclose the names of Russian athletes who were involved in manipulating doping samples at the Sochi Olympics, to the respective sports federations or, in some cases, directly to the IOC, “in order to take operational measures “.
All federations of winter sports were asked to stop their own participation in the preparation of any competitions in Russia, including world championships, and “actively seek alternative organizers.” The IOC explains this recommendation “by the presence of detailed descriptions of the manipulation of doping tests during the 2014 Winter Olympics.”
Also, the IOC ceases to participate in and support any sporting events in Russia and asks the federations of all sports to investigate the relevant organizations in Russia.
The day before, a report by the independent WADA commission led by Richard McLaren on doping scams at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi was published.The report actually confirms and supplements The New York Times’ publications on doping at the 2014 Olympics, based on the confessions of the former head of the Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory Grigory Rodchenkov. In particular, it is about a well-established system of replacing urine analyzes of athletes with the participation of Russian sports functionaries.
All Russian medals of the Sochi Olympics
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