by Alfonz Juck
Moscow 2013, photo by PhotoRun.net
The WC in 2013 was an amazing high point in Russian athletic history. The events that have happened since have denuded Russian athletics of much of its prestige and power. This is the EME News update, on the Russian dilema.
RUSSIA CASE
LAUSANNE (SUI): Russia has been banned from international sport for four years by the World Anti-Doping Agency. After WADA’s executive committee ruled officials at the Moscow anti-doping laboratory manipulated data, the Russian flag, anthem and team names will not be used in international championships. Athletes will still be able to compete as neutrals as at Winter Games in Korea and as athletics is doing for several years.
LAUSANNE (SUI): Jonathan Taylor, chair of WADA’s Compliance Review Committee, said he did not expect any appeal by Russia to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to be successful, insidethegames.biz reports. Russia’s anti-doping agency (RUSADA) director general, Yury Ganus, told AFP his country had no chance of winning an appeal. RUSADA is due to decide on 19 December whether to appeal. “This is a tragedy,” he said. “Clean athletes are seeing their rights limited.”
MOSCOW (RUS): Three-time world high jump champion Mariya Lasitskene reacted to the WADA decision. “I had no doubts in such outcome. I did not believe in promises that everything would be fine. What happened today is a shame. Future plans? To fight for myself and to perform. I never intended to change citizenship and I do not plan to do it now. I will prove in the field that Russian athletes are alive, even if in neutral status. I’ve been doing this all the past years. The only embarrassment is that the athletes are alone in their struggle and the leaders of our sport all this time have been protecting us only in words,” Lasitskene wrote in her Instagram.
LAUSANNE (SUI): The Olympic Summit has “strongly condemned those responsible for the manipulation of the data from the Moscow Laboratory” before it was transferred in January this year – but again vowed to make sure that Russian athletes are allowed to compete at Tokyo 2020 and signalled it would not support a total ban on the country hosting major international events. The two-day meeting in Lausanne formed part of the ongoing consultation process on important issues of significance for the future of the Olympic Movement. Among top officials involved was also World Athletics President Sebastian Coe. From insidethegames.
MOSCOW (RUS): TASS informs, that during Monday meeting with vice-prime-ministers, the Russia’s prime-minister Dmitriy Medvedev called the WADA decision “the continuation of anti-Russian hysteria, which has acquired a chronic form.” Bute he also admitted that there still are problems with doping in Russian sport. “Not so long ago, speaking in an interview, I said that in our sports community there are significant problems with doping so far. This cannot be denied,” said Medvedev. He also expressed the opinion that relevant organizations should appeal the WADA decision.
MOSCOW (RUS): The RusAF roadmap has not yet been agreed with RUSADA, but might be ready by the end of next week, Russian sports minister Pavel Kolobkov told reporters. “After that, a decision on holding a pre-term conference would be made. Our representatives will participate there, because we are in full contact with the acting federation. The situation is complicated. We need to create a new governance structure. Of course, we have to act in cooperation with the international federation,” Kolobkov emphasized.
MOSCOW (RUS): The Russian sports minister Pavel Kolobkov commented on WADA’s decision: “According to lawyers, as well as in my opinion, some sanctions contradict the IOC charter. There are sanctions on members of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) and bans on the flag and anthem, but athletes represent country’s Olympic Committee at the Olympic Games. Since no sanctions were applied to the ROC, there are ample opportunities for lawyers. I would not now compare everything with Pyeongchang-2018. These are different situations,” Kolobkov said at the press conference.
LAUSANNE (SUI): Russian Olympic Committee President Stanislav Pozdnyakov criticised the “illogical and excessive” punishment handed down by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) as the country’s Sports Minister claimed the nation “did everything possible” to address the doping scandal. RUSADA has 21 days to appeal the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
