The International Olympic Committee has excluded Russia from the Winter Games in Pyeongchang because of the state doping affair. You can find out exactly what the verdict means for sport, up to when it applies and what influence the statements of the vihistleblower Rodchenkow had, here.
The National Olympic Committee of Russia has been suspended with immediate effect. At the Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang (9. till 25. February) – but under the Olympic flag and for Team OAR (Olympic Athlets of Russia). In addition, no official of the Russian Ministry of Sport receives accreditation for Pyeongchang. Former sports minister Witali Mutko and his former vice-president Yuri Nagornych were locked up for Olympic Games for life.
The suspension can be lifted at the end of the Winter Olympics in South Korea – if Russia respects the sanctions. The IOC still lays down the prerequisites for this. It is uncertain whether an official apology from the state, for example, is included. Russia must bear the costs incurred by the IOC in the proceedings. The total fine amounts to 15 million US dollars. According to IOC President Thomas Bach, the measures should mark the end of a damaging episode and at the same time be the catalyst for a more effective anti-doping fight led by WADA.
Unlike before the Summer Olympics in Rio 2016, when Russia was already at the priesthood, the newly created independent authority for doping test procedures ITA decides. Prior to the 2016 Games, professional associations had been responsible for this – and were hopelessly overwhelmed. Bach did not regret the fact that the Russian NOK was not suspended at that time, he said on Tuesday. In 2016 the doping laboratory in Moscow was criticized, now it was the Olympic laboratory in Sochi – that’s why they had to take tougher measures, Bach said.
The “systemic” doping system in Russia was an unprecedented attack on the integrity of the Olympic movement and international sport, Bach said in Lausanne on Tuesday evening. He felt sorry for this, especially for the clean athletes who would have suffered from this manipulation. Together with the IOC Athletes’ Commission, they will look for ways to revive these moments for the athletes who would have lost them on the finish line or on the podium.
Before the decision was made, there had been talk of a boycott in the event of such consequences, after which the reactions were initially rather cautious. The great outcry failed to materialize, even though the state media holding company WGTRK immediately announced that it did not want to broadcast the Winter Games. Kremlin spokesman Dimitri Peskov said:”The situation is serious, it requires a deep analysis. A statement by President Vladimir Putin is expected on Wednesday.
Split! The IOC received much approval, but also criticism. The IOC has taken decisive measures that it has so far avoided,”wrote the Los Angeles Times, while the Washington Post noted:” The IOC’s window display decision to block Russia does not really affect the’ state’ in the word’ state doping’. The IOC has done no more than to ban a song and a piece of fabric in Pyeongchang,” the New York Times stated:”The athletes who get permission to start will wear jerseys identifying them as Russian starters. The IOC is thus meeting the Russians in an attempt to prevent a boycott.”
Samuel Schmid, head of the IOC commission investigating the Russian authorities’ influence on the Russian doping system, explained that his investigations were not based solely on Rodchenkov’s statements. The results would be based on a stable foundation, scientific evidence, correspondence and other statements. Ultimately, Schmid comes to the conclusion that there had been a systematic doping system in Russia for years to come and at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi.