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Russian Doping Scandal = BIG Olympic Threat


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I don't care how this is portrayed in Putin media in Russia. They live in their own bubble anyway.

But bach doesn't, and he now has to decide whether he rather wants the wrath of one country or of a wide range of countries that even have evidence on their side.

I still believe Bach will play tricks and lets Russia start, maybe with a few pawns sidelined.

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Or maybe there's a wide range of countries for which Putin has evidence on his side.

Well, he has had half a year or so already to come up with that already, no? Sure it's not only Russians that dope, but the amount described in the report is hardly imaginable in a non-authoritarian country.

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That is not how it will be portrayed in Russia. Russian state media will show this as "proof" that Russia is a victim of a conspiracy by the UK, Canada and the USA: three Anglo countries that have been her longtime enemies. They would do that anyway, of course. But giving them a few threads to weave into a web of conspiracy will help convince moderate Russians that Putin is right.

Japan may be in favor of a ban, but none of Russia's allies are. It will be a disastrous outcome if this develops into a political conflict like 1980 & 1984.

To be clear, I am not suggesting that Russia escape punishment. But WADA and the IOC have to lead the charge for reform, not individual countries who happen to dislike Russia.

And where is WADA and the IOC going to get support from that other than from individual countries and sport federations? Someone has to call out the Russians for this and it looks like there's a whole lot of evidence to back up those claims. Yea, the Russians are probably going to claim conspiracy on this one, but so what? They don't get to take the high road there and someone I doubt this is going to lead to another cold war, particularly when the Russians know they're guilty as sin, no matter what Putin tells them. It's up to WADA and the IOC to hand down punishments, but I don't see this being like the IOC rejecting Switzerland in `99 from being whisteblowers, especially since that was an internal situation.

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Pssst.... before anyone gets too outraged. Russian athletes aren't the only ones doping. They just have the most "state support."

Or maybe there's a wide range of countries for which Putin has evidence on his side.

Or - just throwing this out there - maybe there isn't. There's a lot of damning evidence against Russia right now. Perhaps they're just not as good at doping as other countries? Look at Lance Armstrong and his whole operation where they covered it up for years before he was finally exposed. There will always be individuals doping. But state supported? Even if that's happening, there's this little thing called evidence that high-ranking officials need in order to be outraged rather than just to be skeptical and accusatory.

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And where is WADA and the IOC going to get support from that other than from individual countries and sport federations?

They should be supported by the national committees and federations, but the global bodies of sport must be the ones leading reform and punishments. The IOC cannot allow this to devolve into NATO vs Russia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Belarus, etc.

On the positive side it would help out the Japanese if Russia and its sidekicks boycott Tokyo 2020. They would need a smaller village, would have fewer mouths to feed, etc.

Edited by Nacre
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I don't care how this is portrayed in Putin media in Russia.

This x 1000. Honestly, why should anyone care what their state broadcasters put out?

Anyway, the US took a leading role in taking Blatter down and if they lead on this too most of the sane world will be just as happy. Of course Nacre is right that the ultimate decisions have to rest with international governing bodies, but I couldn't care less who leads on exposing stories like this, as long they are exposed.

They should be supported by the national committees and federations, but the global bodies of sport must be the ones leading reform and punishments. The IOC cannot allow this to devolve into NATO vs Russia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Belarus, etc.

It may already be too late to avoid a split given that Putin and Russia are already screaming CONSPIRACY. But that hardly matters. The IOC just has to do the right thing now, and deal with any consequences later. Those nations can take their ball and go home if they want. Nobody is stopping them. If people still want to side with Russia despite the mountain of evidence, that's their lookout.

Edited by Rob.
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They should be supported by the national committees and federations, but the global bodies of sport must be the ones leading reform and punishments. The IOC cannot allow this to devolve into NATO vs Russia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Belarus, etc.

On the positive side it would help out the Japanese if Russia and its sidekicks boycott Tokyo 2020. They would need a smaller village, would have fewer mouths to feed, etc.

You have Turkey on both sides. Which is both ironic and highly amusing.

Russia is really only staunchly supported by Belarus, Azerbaijan, and Kazakhstan. The other stans like to keep up relations with the Americans and Armenia plays both sides too. Belarus probably has just a bad of a doping problem as Russia.

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They should be supported by the national committees and federations, but the global bodies of sport must be the ones leading reform and punishments. The IOC cannot allow this to devolve into NATO vs Russia, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Belarus, etc.

On the positive side it would help out the Japanese if Russia and its sidekicks boycott Tokyo 2020. They would need a smaller village, would have fewer mouths to feed, etc.

Being the life-long baseball fan that I am, forgive me if I don't have much faith in global bodies of sport leading that charge. And I also following cycling pretty closely this time of year, speaking of a sport that needed to clean itself up in the worst way. But they were in it for themselves, not for the good of stamping out doping from a large nation like Russia.

Why do you think this is going to turn into a battle like that? What do Turkey and Azerbaijan (speaking of 2 countries that have bid for or at least attempted to bid for an Olympics in recent memory) have to do with this? As for Japan.. that's in no way a positive. It's bad enough for Rio that this scrambling is occurring now. Don't think Japan wants to be the country of the Olympics where 1 of the world's largest and most prominent countries wasn't even invited, as if a small reduction in the size of the village (which probably wouldn't even happen since those spots will go to other countries) is going to help them.

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I bet Johnny Weir has the real skimpy on this. He should squeal on his Soviet friends and in a tome edited by Tara Lapinksi, spill the beans in what will surely be a sensational best-seller!! The whole Nancy Kerrigan-Tonya Harding saga will seem like a slumber party. ;)

Edited by baron-pierreIV
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I doubt that the IOC will ban Russia right away - it is just a question of time that Witalo Mutko will be dismissed - as sacrificial lamb...

That's my suspicion too. Followed by a few minor adjustments of Sochi results, but no further consequences for Rio.

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You have Turkey on both sides. Which is both ironic and highly amusing.

Sadly I think Turkey may not be in NATO for much longer. You only have to look at what's happened in Turkey the past week to see the danger of the situation.

They want to play both sides: having free access to Europe for trade and their people while also being able to align with the East when it suits them. It is a lot harder to do that as a part of NATO, and I am sure Ergodan's friend Putin would find some nice incentives for Turkey to withdraw.

Edited by Nacre
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Just that in the past few months, Erdo & Vlad weren't really best buddies and only recently became friends again.

Both are ruthless, but one of them is smart and ice cold and very rational in his (questionable) actions, the other one is completely irrational. Those two will not come together properly.

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Nah Erdogan is Mussolini to Putin's Hitler.

From what is being reported. FINA is really pissed about this, the IAAF has already acted. FIFA is probably going to suspend Mutko. The ICF has delayed quota finalization and looks to be on the path of expelling the Russians to go along with the Romanian and Belorussians they already expelled. So some federations are planning or have already taken action. The IWF is also probably going to out-right ban Russia like they did Azerbaijan and Bulgaria.

The only interest federation is going to be United World Wrestling. It is headed by a geopolitical Russian ally.

Edited by Faster
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I support a total ban on Russia competing, not just in Rio 2016 but in Pyeongchang 2018 - both Olympics and Paralympics. Would the overall level of competitiveness be affected? Of course. But it would nice to see someone win gold in rhythmic gymnastics and synchronized swimming who isn't Russian. Not that there's any doping in those sports, but if Russians can manipulate the judging in figure skating... The turnover in synchronized swimming was rather quick, don't you think? The USA had won gold in Atlanta, but between then and Sydney, they just disappeared in favor of the Russians. It was as if they didn't even matter anymore.

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I support a total ban on Russia competing, not just in Rio 2016 but in Pyeongchang 2018 - both Olympics and Paralympics. Would the overall level of competitiveness be affected? Of course. But it would nice to see someone win gold in rhythmic gymnastics and synchronized swimming who isn't Russian. Not that there's any doping in those sports, but if Russians can manipulate the judging in figure skating... The turnover in synchronized swimming was rather quick, don't you think? The USA had won gold in Atlanta, but between then and Sydney, they just disappeared in favor of the Russians. It was as if they didn't even matter anymore.

Do you support the ban because you think Russia should be punished for doping? Or is this more about redistributing those medals to other nations so Russia doesn't "hoard" so many of them?

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Olympic sports association opposes full ban on Russia team over doping

The umbrella body for summer Olympic sports has indicated it is opposed to a ban for the whole Russian team from the Rio de Janeiro Games, amid calls for it to be barred over doping.

The Association of Summer Olympic International Federations ( ASOIF) , which represents the governing bodies of 28 sports on the Olympic programme, said it is "important to focus on the need for individual justice in all these cases".

However, ASOIF also said it would respect a ban on a national team in a particular sport, if imposed by that sport's international federation.

That would cover the doping ban on the Russian athletics team, which was upheld by the International Association of Athletics Federations last month, or bans on several weightlifting teams, including Russia's.

ASOIF added it wants more investigation into allegations that the Russian government covered up hundreds of doping cases.

Earlier, the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) called for a ban on the country's entire team from the Games, after an investigator found Russian government officials engineered the drug-fuelled corruption of nearly 30 sports.

The scheme lasted at least four years, covered 28 Olympic sports - both summer and winter - and involved at least 312 positive tests that went unreported at the behest of higher-ups in the country's sports ministry, according to a 97-page report.

"A mind-blowing level of corruption within both Russian sport and government,'" said Travis Tygart, the chief executive of the US Anti-Doping Agency.

Wada, which hired arbitrator Richard McLaren to lead the investigation, called on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to decline entries of all Russian athletes to this summer's Olympics.

"In the face of such evidence of state-sponsored subversion of anti-doping processes, Wada insists upon imposition of the most serious consequences to protect clean athletes from the scourge of doping in sport," said Wada president Craig Reedie, who is also an IOC member.

IOC president Thomas Bach called the revelations a "shocking and unprecedented attack on the integrity of sports and on the Olympic Games" and said the IOC would not hesitate to apply the toughest sanctions available against those accused of cheating.

AP

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/olympic-sports-association-opposes-full-ban-on-russia-team-over-doping-34895694.html

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If they compete, ANY Russian athlete I see winning a medal in Rio, I will be thinking do they deserve to be on that podium? If its state run doping, they may have benefitted at any point in their career. They need to get their house in order before they can compete at any games.

And I say if you get caught doping its a life ban, whatever your nationality.

Until it's a serious punishment it won't be taken seriously.

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