Tobogganing: IOC-blocking not justifiable

The Disciplinary Commission of the FIL World Luge Federation considers the suspension of Russian luge athletes by the IOC to be unacceptable.

That is what sports lawyer Christian Krähe told the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. The lawyer chaired the FIL committee, which had assessed the cases of Tatyana Ivanova (26) and Albert Demchenko (46) at the beginning of the week and then waived sanctions.

The IOC had suspended both silver medallists from Sochi in 2014 for life in the wake of the state doping scandal. However, the evidence is “thin. I wonder how the IOC came to this conclusion,”said Krähe:”According to the files, the IOC’s results are not even debatable.”

In the case of Demtschenko, there is no positive sample, no trace of manipulation on the control bottles or indications of contamination of the samples, according to the FAZ.

There is no sample of Ivanova. Both, however, are on the list of athletes who have benefited and been protected by the state doping system during the Games. An affidavit of the whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov’s affidavit shall support the IOC judgement.

From the point of view of Krähes, however, he had “a dubious reputation, and in particular he was not to be had for a cross-examination. There have been no concrete statements from him on the athletes concerned so far.”

Against this backdrop, Krähe also has doubts that the IOC’s suspensions at the International Court of Justice for Sport were in place:”I can’t imagine that given the meagre evidence. “unless Rodchenkov appears and makes credible statements about individual athletes.”

After the FIL committee’s decision, the still active Ivanowa is allowed to compete in the World Cup on Saturday at Königssee. Demtschenko is allowed to work there as a Russian trainer.