On November 22nd, the council of the WA (IAAF) announced that the reinstatement process of the Russian Athletics Federation (RusAF) was suspended. The "Russia taskforce" made their recommendation due to the existence on unresolved charges brought by the Athletics Integrity Unit.
They asked the WA council to mandate the members of the Taskforce and of the Doping Review Board to review the ‘Authorised Neutral Athlete’ (ANA) mechanism and make recommendations as to whether that mechanism can and should continue to be used, and (if so) in what form. (Moreover any ANA applications received in the interim should be held in abeyance pending such review).
And, to cap it all, the sanctions contemplated could go as far as asking the WA Congress to consider the expulsion of RusAF from membership of World Athletics.
The chair of the Taskforce, R. Andersen, stated that
“There are charges laid by the AIU which we need to respect, and the AIU needs to receive feedback from RusAF by 12 December. When we have the answers from the AIU on what has been going on and what the process will be, then we will convene and look at the whole structure and we will come up with recommendations to the council”.
The WA president, S. Coe, commented
“This is a process that has served us well. It is neither symbolic nor have we done it to benchmark ourselves against anything else other than we felt was absolutely the right decision for our sport. It may not make us universally popular, but it is really important that we continue with the process we began in November 2015. The recommendation that was given to us today, and unanimously accepted by the council, was in the spirit of that process. We will take this through to wherever we need to take it to protect the athletes and the sport”.
Up to here all is well. Most probably in the immortal words of Shakespeare "something is rotten in the state of Denmark", meaning that there is indeed a doping problem in the Russian Athletics Federation involving members of the hierarchy up to and including the presidency. And, although the process Sir Sebastian is referring to is harsh, it is not quite unfair.
But then things went downhill. The CEO of USADA, T. Tygart made a revolting statement. I give it in its totality below so that you can appreciate the hypocrisy.
“Russia continues to flaunt the world’s anti-doping rules, kick clean athletes in the gut and poke WADA in the eye and get away with it time and time again.
WADA must stand up to this fraudulent and bullying behaviour as the rules and Olympic values demand. The response proposed by the CRC is inadequate especially given the deceit perpetuated by the Russian sport system which is controlled by the government.
History has taught us the response to Russian doping used in Rio 2016 and PyeongChang 2018 – in which a secretly-managed process permitting Russians to compete – did not work. The world’s athletes saw through this charade and it apparently only emboldened Russia to simply destroy evidence and to tamper with more samples to make it impossible to confirm whether any clean Russian athletes actually exist.
WADA must get tougher and impose the full restriction on Russian athlete participation in the Olympics that the rules allow. Only such a resolute response has a chance of getting Russia’s attention, changing behaviour, and protecting today’s clean athletes who will compete in Tokyo, as well as future generations of athletes in Russia who deserve better than a cynical, weak response to the world’s repeated calls for Russia to clean up its act. It is sad when a country’s athletes suffer for the fraud of the governmental and sport system they represent. However, the failure to stand up to Russia’s five-year flaunting of the rules would cause even more harm to athletes in and outside of Russia.
The time for the toughest penalty available is now”.
To put it in a nutshell, what Tygart is asking is that all russian athletes, even the ones who have never been implicated in doping controversies, be banned for the Tokyo, 2020, Olympics.
Who is talking? The president of the USA doping agency, the very same who cooked up a ridiculous excuse, a "filing failure", allowing C. Coleman to participate in the World Championships and win two gold medals. The guy who is happy watching double doping offender J. Gatlin continue to haunt the stadia.
Of course Tygart's statement did provoke strong reactions. I was very happy seeing that World and Olympic champion K. Stefanidi was among the first to react. She pointed out that the US anti-doping agency cannot talk about clean athletes when there have been so many US doping cases. I her own words
“Well...to be fair with all the steroid-infused meat and the way missed tests are counted in this side of the world I’ve got to admit USADA doesn’t have the best reputation either. Focus on cleaning up your own house first”.
(The reference to "steroid-infused meat" alludes to the explanation used by some american athletes in order to get away with doping offences, i.e. that the presence of anabolics in their urine and/or blood is due to the intake of such "tainted" meat).
Triple World Champion M. Lasitskene asked Tygart to "watch his language". She commented on the scurrilous statement of Tygart that "it [is] impossible to confirm whether any clean Russian athletes actually exist" that he should ask Gatlin, Coleman and all US athletes who profit for “therapeutic use exemptions” concerning the use of prohibited substances. And nobody can accuse Lasitskene of being partial. Just a few months ago she critiqued roundly the Russian Federation for their lack of action which could lead to the RusAF reinstatement, and the fact that the interests of the athletes were somehow ignored. "Without athletes, the existence of a federation is meaningless" she pointed out.
WADA will deliver its verdict regarding the status of RUSADA and Russia’s participation in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo on December 9. Thus Tygart's statement is nothing but candid. If Russia is expelled from the Olympics the US can expect to win 20 % more medals. Hence the insolence of the USADA chief. Has there ever been question about sanctioning the USATF for the doping offences of their athletes? Not only this but it is the USADA themselves who invent cover-up stories, as in the case of Coleman.
It is written in the Scripture "let him who is without sin cast the first stone". Definitely Mr. Tygart does not qualify.
PS The verdict of WADA was announced on December 9th. Russia has been handed a four (!) year ban from international competitions. This covers the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and the Qatar 2022 football World Cup. In the words of WADA the decision was the "strongest possible". It goes without saying that for zealots like Tygart the punishment was not painful enough. In his own words "Escaping Russia completely is another devastating blow to the clean athletes, the credibility of the sport and the rule of law". Which clean athletes is he talking about?
They asked the WA council to mandate the members of the Taskforce and of the Doping Review Board to review the ‘Authorised Neutral Athlete’ (ANA) mechanism and make recommendations as to whether that mechanism can and should continue to be used, and (if so) in what form. (Moreover any ANA applications received in the interim should be held in abeyance pending such review).
And, to cap it all, the sanctions contemplated could go as far as asking the WA Congress to consider the expulsion of RusAF from membership of World Athletics.
The chair of the Taskforce, R. Andersen, stated that
“There are charges laid by the AIU which we need to respect, and the AIU needs to receive feedback from RusAF by 12 December. When we have the answers from the AIU on what has been going on and what the process will be, then we will convene and look at the whole structure and we will come up with recommendations to the council”.
The WA president, S. Coe, commented
“This is a process that has served us well. It is neither symbolic nor have we done it to benchmark ourselves against anything else other than we felt was absolutely the right decision for our sport. It may not make us universally popular, but it is really important that we continue with the process we began in November 2015. The recommendation that was given to us today, and unanimously accepted by the council, was in the spirit of that process. We will take this through to wherever we need to take it to protect the athletes and the sport”.
Up to here all is well. Most probably in the immortal words of Shakespeare "something is rotten in the state of Denmark", meaning that there is indeed a doping problem in the Russian Athletics Federation involving members of the hierarchy up to and including the presidency. And, although the process Sir Sebastian is referring to is harsh, it is not quite unfair.
But then things went downhill. The CEO of USADA, T. Tygart made a revolting statement. I give it in its totality below so that you can appreciate the hypocrisy.
“Russia continues to flaunt the world’s anti-doping rules, kick clean athletes in the gut and poke WADA in the eye and get away with it time and time again.
WADA must stand up to this fraudulent and bullying behaviour as the rules and Olympic values demand. The response proposed by the CRC is inadequate especially given the deceit perpetuated by the Russian sport system which is controlled by the government.
History has taught us the response to Russian doping used in Rio 2016 and PyeongChang 2018 – in which a secretly-managed process permitting Russians to compete – did not work. The world’s athletes saw through this charade and it apparently only emboldened Russia to simply destroy evidence and to tamper with more samples to make it impossible to confirm whether any clean Russian athletes actually exist.
WADA must get tougher and impose the full restriction on Russian athlete participation in the Olympics that the rules allow. Only such a resolute response has a chance of getting Russia’s attention, changing behaviour, and protecting today’s clean athletes who will compete in Tokyo, as well as future generations of athletes in Russia who deserve better than a cynical, weak response to the world’s repeated calls for Russia to clean up its act. It is sad when a country’s athletes suffer for the fraud of the governmental and sport system they represent. However, the failure to stand up to Russia’s five-year flaunting of the rules would cause even more harm to athletes in and outside of Russia.
The time for the toughest penalty available is now”.
The upholder of the law T. Tygart
To put it in a nutshell, what Tygart is asking is that all russian athletes, even the ones who have never been implicated in doping controversies, be banned for the Tokyo, 2020, Olympics.
Who is talking? The president of the USA doping agency, the very same who cooked up a ridiculous excuse, a "filing failure", allowing C. Coleman to participate in the World Championships and win two gold medals. The guy who is happy watching double doping offender J. Gatlin continue to haunt the stadia.
Of course Tygart's statement did provoke strong reactions. I was very happy seeing that World and Olympic champion K. Stefanidi was among the first to react. She pointed out that the US anti-doping agency cannot talk about clean athletes when there have been so many US doping cases. I her own words
“Well...to be fair with all the steroid-infused meat and the way missed tests are counted in this side of the world I’ve got to admit USADA doesn’t have the best reputation either. Focus on cleaning up your own house first”.
(The reference to "steroid-infused meat" alludes to the explanation used by some american athletes in order to get away with doping offences, i.e. that the presence of anabolics in their urine and/or blood is due to the intake of such "tainted" meat).
Triple World Champion M. Lasitskene asked Tygart to "watch his language". She commented on the scurrilous statement of Tygart that "it [is] impossible to confirm whether any clean Russian athletes actually exist" that he should ask Gatlin, Coleman and all US athletes who profit for “therapeutic use exemptions” concerning the use of prohibited substances. And nobody can accuse Lasitskene of being partial. Just a few months ago she critiqued roundly the Russian Federation for their lack of action which could lead to the RusAF reinstatement, and the fact that the interests of the athletes were somehow ignored. "Without athletes, the existence of a federation is meaningless" she pointed out.
WADA will deliver its verdict regarding the status of RUSADA and Russia’s participation in the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo on December 9. Thus Tygart's statement is nothing but candid. If Russia is expelled from the Olympics the US can expect to win 20 % more medals. Hence the insolence of the USADA chief. Has there ever been question about sanctioning the USATF for the doping offences of their athletes? Not only this but it is the USADA themselves who invent cover-up stories, as in the case of Coleman.
It is written in the Scripture "let him who is without sin cast the first stone". Definitely Mr. Tygart does not qualify.
PS The verdict of WADA was announced on December 9th. Russia has been handed a four (!) year ban from international competitions. This covers the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and the Qatar 2022 football World Cup. In the words of WADA the decision was the "strongest possible". It goes without saying that for zealots like Tygart the punishment was not painful enough. In his own words "Escaping Russia completely is another devastating blow to the clean athletes, the credibility of the sport and the rule of law". Which clean athletes is he talking about?
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