Russia banned from hosting/competing at major international events for 4 years

[Andrey aka Pushkin]

Russia banned for four years to include 2020 Olympics and 2022 World Cup

Russia is handed a four-year ban from all major sporting events - including the Tokyo 2020 Olympics - by the World Anti-Doping Agency.

www.bbc.com

.

Another round.
This includes the multidiscipline sport events, such as Olympics and Universiadas, but unclear about the rest.

 

[Icetalavista]

They will be allowed to compete individually if cleared.

 

[Firedancer]

This article has a little more information toward the end:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wa.../russia-banned-tokyo-olympics/?outputType=amp

 

[MsZem]

Good.

I have my issues with anti-doping efforts and there's work to be done there, but consistently flouting the rules in order to gain unfair advantage is contrary to the spirit of fair play and should be punished.

 

[taz'smum]

This article has a little more information toward the end:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/12/09/russia-banned-tokyo-olympics/?outputType=amp

Could you kindly cut and paste, as there is a paywall?

 

[seabm7]

Could you kindly cut and paste, as there is a paywall?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/12/09/russia-banned-tokyo-olympics/

A few article per months is free. If you were not frequenting the Washington Post site, the article should be readable as it is.

 

[taz'smum]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2019/12/09/russia-banned-tokyo-olympics/

A few article per months is free.

This one is not free

 

[MsZem]

The WaPo article doesn't really add anything to what's already in the BBC story that Andrey posted.

FWIW, subscriptions to the WaPo are pretty cheap - it should be $30 or 40 at most for full digital access.

 

[Primorskaya]

Good thing, but I do hope individual athletes who test clean will be allowed in. Figure skating has known many huge scandals but doping isn't one, I guess it doesn't give you much of an edge (no pun intended) in this particular sport, so we'll hopefully get to see Russian skaters in those events. How many exactly remains to be seen...

 

[genevieve]

Could you kindly cut and paste, as there is a paywall?

quoting a whole article is not allowed.

WaPo is available online for $40 a YEAR right now.

 

[taz'smum]

This might cause a few problems for the IOC

The decision of the WADA Executive Committee contradicts the Olympic Charter, since if the ROC is not removed, then athletes must act as part of the team of the Russian Olympic Committee.

WADA пÑоÑив вÑÑÑÑÐ¿Ð»ÐµÐ½Ð¸Ñ ÑпоÑÑÑменов под названием «ÐлимпийÑкие аÑлеÑÑ Ð¸Ð· РоÑÑии»

ÐÑемиÑное анÑидопинговое агенÑÑÑво (WADA) вÑÑÑÑпило пÑоÑив лÑбой иденÑиÑикаÑии ÑоÑÑийÑÐºÐ¸Ñ ÑпоÑÑÑменов на ÐлимпийÑÐºÐ¸Ñ Ð¸Ð³ÑаÑ.

www.sports.ru

 

[Vagabond]

@taz'smum

In addition to the ban on international competition, the committee also recommended that Russian officials be barred from sitting on boards and committees related to international sports governance. Russia also will not be permitted to host any major sporting event or even apply for hosting duties, and the Russian flag would not be allowed to fly at any major event.

ETA: I wonder what the implications are for skating.

Extending the ban to events subject to the World Anti-Doping Code seems preclude the possibility of Russia's hosting any GP, JGP, or Challenger Series events, and maybe any Senior or Junior "B" of any description. Will Finland (or maybe South Korea or Italy) host a substitute Grand Prix event?

How will the ban apply to the number of Russian athletes competing as individuals in ISU events where seedings are determined by placements at a previous competition? For example, if a Russian wins the Junior Ladies event at World Juniors in 2021, will it be possible for two Russian Junior Ladies to skate at each JGP event the following season?

How will this effect Russian participation on judging and technical panels in international competition?

And, will this have the practical effect of driving Russian skaters, especially younger ones, to represent other Federations?

 

[clairecloutier]

^^ In regard to the above, Russia currently has 3 representatives in the ISU leadership (including holding the top spot for figure skating). Will be interesting to see how (if at all) this affects them.

-- Alexander Lakernik, First Vice President of Figure Skating (directly under Jan Dijkema, ISU President)
-- Fedor Klimov, member of Singles/Pairs Skating Technical Committee
-- Uliana Chirkova, member of Synchronized Skating Technical Committee

Meet The Team - International Skating Union

The International Skating Union is the international sport federation administering Ice Skating sports throughout the world.

isu.org

 

[seabm7]

This one is not free

How about this New York Times article? The writer is more harsh on Bach compared to the Washington Post version, but the content is almost the same:

Russia Banned From Olympics and Global Sports for 4 Years Over Doping (Published 2019)

The World Anti-Doping Agency’s unanimous decision, if upheld, would exclude Russia from the 2020 Olympics, but many Russian athletes could be unaffected by the decision.

www.nytimes.com

 

[thvu]

This one is not free

The Compliance Review Committee ruled last month that the “Moscow data are neither complete nor fully authentic,” and there were “hundreds of presumptive adverse analytical findings” shared by the whistleblower that weren’t included in Russia’s 2019 submission. The investigators determined that 145 cases had been tampered with and found “the related underlying raw data and PDF files have been deleted or altered” after RUSADA had been reinstated and ordered to turn over the data.

Furthermore, the investigators found that someone attempted to implicate whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov, the former director of the Moscow lab, by planting fabricated evidence in the data that he was involved in a scheme to extort money from athletes.
...

In addition to the ban on international competition, the committee also recommended that Russian officials be barred from sitting on boards and committees related to international sports governance. Russia also will not be permitted to host any major sporting event or even apply for hosting duties, and the Russian flag would not be allowed to fly at any major event.

 

[wickedwitch]

Good thing, but I do hope individual athletes who test clean will be allowed in. Figure skating has known many huge scandals but doping isn't one, I guess it doesn't give you much of an edge (no pun intended) in this particular sport, so we'll hopefully get to see Russian skaters in those events. How many exactly remains to be seen...

The Washington Post article says that they will be. Of course, I don't trust WADA to be able to identify clean athletes fairly, but at least in theory they have a way.

 

[taz'smum]

Skating competitions this season should go ahead as normal as there is no time to apply the sanctions before then

В WADA не уверены, что санкции в отношении российского спорта успеют вступить в силу до Олимпиады-2020

В WADA не уверены, что санкции в отношении российского спорта успеют вступить в силу до Олимпиады-2020 - Легкая атлетика на Sports.ru

www.sports.ru

 

[rfisher]

If the issue is the Russian labs, then why don't they just require the samples be sent to an impartial lab? This seems more a pissing match between a few Russian officials and WADA. Just ban the effing lab and use another. I don't know about other athletes and how they're tested, but the skaters are tested at each event and the tests are not run by Russian labs!

 

[Bulletsdad]

If the issue is the Russian labs, then why don't they just require the samples be sent to an impartial lab? This seems more a pissing match between a few Russian officials and WADA. Just ban the effing lab and use another. I don't know about other athletes and how they're tested, but the skaters are tested at each event and the tests are not run by Russian labs!

The issue is the continued coverup. Really, this is just another slap on the wrist, replacing "OAR" with "IOC." Only a total ban would really get through to the powers that be in Moscow. I understand it wouldn't be fair to clean Russian athletes; but this is not a potent deterrence to nefarious state sponsored actors and the state itself. The whole situation is a cluster*ck! If I were RUSADA, I would accept this punishment and thank my lucky stars. (BTW, I think state sponsored bribery could easily circumvent the use of "impartial labs." The point is to create a deterrence that makes cheating just not worth the risk!)

 

[BittyBug]

If the issue is the Russian labs, then why don't they just require the samples be sent to an impartial lab? This seems more a pissing match between a few Russian officials and WADA. Just ban the effing lab and use another. I don't know about other athletes and how they're tested, but the skaters are tested at each event and the tests are not run by Russian labs!

Per the articles, the Russian labs are only part of the issue. Russia had a chance to clear things up by providing test data from their labs, but rather than hand over all the data apparently altered the contents so that the status of individual athletes cannot be accurately assessed. It is the lack of cooperation and intentional obstruction that landed them the latest ban.

 

[Colonel Green]

If Russians can only compete as neutrals athletes, with no OAR label, does that mean no team event?

 

[PRlady]

Per the articles, the Russian labs are only part of the issue. Russia had a chance to clear things up by providing test data from their labs, but rather than hand over all the data apparently altered the contents so that the status of individual athletes cannot be accurately assessed. It is the lack of cooperation and intentional obstruction that landed them the latest ban.

Which is why, to my mind, the ban is desirable and perhaps not even strong enough. When you have a country publicly thumbing its collective nose at the regulatory body, you either come down hard on them or you transform yourself into a voluntary-compliance organization. We all know that skating is not a sport beset by drugs but we also know that athletes have taken legal substances to improve some aspect of their strength or stamina, i.e. meldonium when it was legal. WADA has to "punish the innocent with the guilty" if Russia has taken specific steps to hide who the guilty are!

 

[LarrySK8]

I do not agree with the loophole.

 

[Andrey aka Pushkin]

Which is why, to my mind, the ban is desirable and perhaps not even strong enough. When you have a country publicly thumbing its collective nose at the regulatory body, you either come down hard on them or you transform yourself into a voluntary-compliance organization. We all know that skating is not a sport beset by drugs but we also know that athletes have taken legal substances to improve some aspect of their strength or stamina, i.e. meldonium when it was legal. WADA has to "punish the innocent with the guilty" if Russia has take specific steps to hide who the guilty are!

I am very tentatively suspecting WADA knows who the athletes are for which the data has been altered, however, officially, the athletes who want to compete need to prove their data hasn't been changed. I have no idea how it is even possible to do, but hopefully there are ways, maybe archives or whatever. While the scandal after Sochi had some questionable sides, the new one is entirely on the Russian officials to blame.

What a bunch of useless idiots.

ETA: also, I don't even understand WHY they did it. In the worst case, some more sportsmen would have had banned. Big deal, given it was already 5 years ago, and those athletes probably mostly retired anyway. Although now the entire team is compromised.

The worst part is, they are so dumb, they couldn't even cheat properly without being caught. Unbelievable idiots.

 

[rfisher]

Which is why, to my mind, the ban is desirable and perhaps not even strong enough. When you have a country publicly thumbing its collective nose at the regulatory body, you either come down hard on them or you transform yourself into a voluntary-compliance organization. We all know that skating is not a sport beset by drugs but we also know that athletes have taken legal substances to improve some aspect of their strength or stamina, i.e. meldonium when it was legal. WADA has to "punish the innocent with the guilty" if Russia has taken specific steps to hide who the guilty are!

How would you like to be the parent of an hysterical 15 or 16 year old who has never done anything wrong that somebody else just fecked with your life and career and did it when you were just a little kid?

 

[Bulletsdad]

How would you like to be the parent of an hysterical 15 or 16 year old who has never done anything wrong that somebody else just fecked with your life and career and did it when you were just a little kid?

I wouldn't, and they would have officials in Moscow to blame for the lost opportunity. Don't blame the judge for the crimes of the perpetrator.

 

[kirkbiggestfan]

Any idea what's going to happen to Bukin and Stolbova? Do they need to prove that they are clean or are they on the banned list?

 

[BlueRidge]

How would you like to be the parent of an hysterical 15 or 16 year old who has never done anything wrong that somebody else just fecked with your life and career and did it when you were just a little kid?

This is just the first step in a process and what I would expect is that people close to young skaters are not letting them think at this point they are screwed forever and a day. Its very unlikely they won't be able to compete as happened in 2018.

If I were Ivan Bukin I might be nervous.

 

[Alvyne]

So if I understand correctly, Russian athletes will still be able to compete at major events, but not under the Russian flag?

 

[Bulletsdad]

So if I understand correctly, Russian athletes will still be able to compete at major events, but not under the Russian flag?

Yes. It's the "don't ask, don't tell" of the sports world!