Russia escapes a blanket ban

Following the findings by the of the world Anti-Doping Agency against the Russian Olympic Committee for engaging in certain malicious conduct against the rules of the game, the Russian sports federation has been under serious investigations regarding her conduct in the supervision of her state government doping system which according to the Anti-Doping Agency is a violation of the standard.

The study included the discussion of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)’s Independent Person (IP) Report by Prof. Richard McLaren; the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on 21 July 2016 concerning the rules of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF); as well as the Olympic Charter and the World Anti-Doping Code.
The International Olympic Committee who reviewed the allegation against the Russian Olympic Committee  yesterday Sunday, though admitting the fact that the allegation place a taint not only on the Russian sports federation but also on the entire team of athletes billed for the Olympic games in Rio, also accepted the fact that the fundamental rights of every Russian athletes  must be put into serious considerations following the rules governing the IOC and all other fundamental rules of the games.

The IOC who shelved the idea of a blanket ban however insist that any Russian athletes who may be allowed to participate at the forthcoming Olympics, must pass through a thorough scrutiny process before given the green light to fly the Russian flag at the Rio games in Brazil. Meeting those standards according to the IOC, though not peculiar to Russian athletes, but will be narrowed down to the ROC given the circumstances to which they are now be allowed to filled in athletes as participants in Rio.     

Announcing this verdict after due consultations and deliberations, the president of the International Olympic Committee, Mr Thomas Bach, argued that the decision reached though might really not please everybody as envisaged, but stressed that it is one which is respecting the rules of justice. “This may not please everybody on either side,” said Thomas Bach, president of the Olympic committee. “But still the result today is one which is respecting the rules of justice.”

Announcing the decision on Sunday, Mr. Bach repeated his interest in balancing “the individual justice to which every human being is entitled” with collective punishment. The decision reached by the committee though contrary to majority opinion, most especially the Anti-Doping Agency, the Russian Olympic Committee was given a leeway to filled in athletes to compete in the forthcoming Olympics Games in Rio though, subject to some conditional criteria. According to the IOC, all Russian athletes who may be allowed to participate in Rio, must first pass the clarification and specification of all individual sport as verified by the international  federation governing each sports.

The IOC who argued that the timing was a constraining factor, however, had to reach a decision based on the reports before hand as they leave the final ban to the Individual sports guiding the respective international federation.

 On the basis of the Findings of the IP Report, all Russian athletes seeking entry to the Olympic Games Rio 2016 are considered to be affected by a system subverting and manipulating the anti-doping system. The IP Report indicates that, due to “the highly compressed timeline”, the IP has “only skimmed the surface of the extensive data available”.

The IOC.’s deliberations stemmed from a confession by the longtime director of Russia’s anti doping lab, Grigory Rodchenkov, who told The New York Times last spring in detail how Russian officials had perpetrated one of the most elaborate doping programs in sports history. He shared spreadsheets of the athletes who participated in it and a recipe of the three-drug cocktail of steroids and liquor he had devised for them ahead of the 2012 Summer Games in London.