“Russian athletes in any of the 28 Olympic summer sports have to assume the consequences of what amounts to a collective responsibility in order to protect the credibility of the Olympic competitions, and the ‘presumption of innocence’ cannot be applied to them. On the other hand, according to the rules of natural justice, individual justice, to which every human being is entitled, has to be applied. This means that each affected athlete must be given the opportunity to rebut the applicability of collective responsibility in his or her individual case. ” This said the International Olympic Commitee today in its offcial communication on the decission related to the Russian doping corruption affair unveiled by the WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency) report.
The IOC decission establishes that no official or athlete directly implicated in the dopping affair will be accredited for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
No collective ban but many and heavy requirements to comply with
Each Russian athlete entry can be accepted by the IOC only if the athlete is able to provide evidence to the full satisfaction of his or her International Federation (IF) requests in relation to some criteria, including:
a) The athlete passes his/her IF individual analysis of each athlete’s anti-doping record, taking into account only
reliable adequate international tests, and the specificities of the athlete’s sport and its rules, in order to ensure a level playing field.
b) The incumbent IF rules in relation to the sanctioning of entire national federations do not establish a collective ban in this case.
c) The athlete passes a rigorous additional out-of-competition testing programme in coordination with the relevant IF and WADA (World Anti-Doping Agency).
d) The athlete has never been sanctioned for doping, even if he or she has served the sanction.
The provisional measures already taken on 19 July 2016. They remain in place until 31 December 2016, and will be reviewed by the EB in December 2016.
IOC warns that additional sanctions and measures may be imposed by the IOC following the final report of the IP and due legal procedure by the IOC Disciplinary Commission established on 19 July 2016 under the chairmanship of Mr Guy Canivet (Vice-Chair of the IOC Ethics Commission, former member of the French Constitutional Court and President of the French Cour de Cassation) and the IOC EB.
Stepanova will not be accredited by the IOC for Rio 2016
The IOC EB further studied the request by the Russian track and field athlete, Mrs Iuliia Stepanova, to compete in the Olympic Games Rio 2016 as a “neutral athlete”, instead of a member of the Russian Olympic team.
Stepanova is based her request on her role as “whistle-blower” with regard to the manipulation of the anti-doping system and corruption involving the WADA-accredited Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory, the All-Russia Athletic Federation (ARAF) and the IAAF.
The IOC Ethics Commission advised the IOC not to enter this woman athlete as a competitor in the Olympic Games Rio 2016, because: “While it is true that Mrs Stepanova’s testimony and public statements have made a contribution to the protection and promotion of clean athletes, fair play and the integrity and authenticity of sport, the Rules of the Olympic Charter related to the organisation of the Olympic Games run counter to the recognition of the status of neutral athlete. Furthermore, the sanction to which she was subject and the circumstances in which she denounced the doping practices which she had used herself, do not satisfy the ethical requirements for an athlete to enter the Olympic Games.”
The IOC EB accepted the advice of the IOC Ethics Commission, also taking into consideration its above-mentioned decision not to allow any Russian athlete who has ever been sanctioned for doping to participate in the Olympic Games Rio 2016.
Image over the headline.- Thomas Bach (President of the IOC). © IOC.
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IOC considering collective ban on Russian participation in Rio 2016 by doping corruption
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