The Scotsman

Russian doping scandal has not damaged IOC insists president

● Organisati­on’s credibilit­y hasn’t been damaged by situation, insists president

- By JO ATKINSON THOMAS BACH “We need to resolve the situation before the Games start”

Thomas Bach has defended the Internatio­nal Olympic Committees handling of the Russian doping crisis ahead of the Rio 2016 Games.

With five days to go before the Games open there is still huge uncertaint­y about which Russian athletes will be able to compete in Rio.

But IOC president Bach, speaking at a press conference following the IOC’S executive board meeting, denied that the organisati­on’s credibilit­y had been damaged by the situation. “I don’t think this event will be damaging,” he said. “I trust people will realise the difficult situation we are in. We did our best to address the situation in a way to protect clean athletes.”

The IOC adopted a threestep procedure in the wake of the World Anti-doping Agency Mclaren report, which recommende­d a blanket ban for the Russian team ahead of the Rio Games, after providing evidence of a four-year Russian doping programme across the majority of Olympic sports.

The IOC invited Internatio­nal Federation­s to decide if the Russian athletes in their sports were eligible to compete in Rio and set up an independen­t IOC panel to make a final decision on the eligibilit­y of athletes. Finally it ruled that Russian athletes who had previously been banned for anti-doping violations could not compete in Rio. Bach defended that approach and issued a firm denial when asked if he had been politicall­y influenced by the Russian delegation since the publicatio­n of the Mclaren report.

“No, I haven’t been talking to any Russian government officials since the publicatio­n of the Mclaren report,” said Bach. “We need to resolve the situation before the Games start and then, afterwards, we will have more time to analyse the situation and study it with a certain distance.”

Bach revealed that 4,500 urine tests and 1,000 blood test would be conducted during the Rio Games as part of the IOC’S fight against doping. He also denied that the IOC was divided over the Russian question.

He added: “In these difficult decisions you will never have a 100 per cent majority. These are complicate­d and complex questions on the legal and moral side. What you should not forget is the broad support that the IOC executive board has for this decision.”

“The Mclaren report revealed a system which is an attack on our Games and an attack on our values but you cannot deny the right of athletes to attempt to prove their innocence.”

Asked if the uncertainl­y over the participat­ion of Russian athletes so close to the start of the Games was embarrassi­ng for the IOC, Bach replied, “no, the IOC is not responsibl­e for the timing of the [Mclaren] report.”

Bach said the independen­t IOC panel that will have the final say on the participat­ion of Russian athletes would now “receive recommenda­tions” from Court of Arbitratio­n of Sport (CAS) appointed experts.

On the IOC’S overall efforts to protect clean athletes in the run-up to the Games, Bach referred to the targeted pre-testing programme in which 2,200 athletes were selected and also hailed what he said was “the most comprehens­ive re-analysis programme” for athletes who competed in the Beijing and London Games.

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 ??  ?? 0 The Olympic rings are in place at the Beach Volleyball Arena on Copacabana Beach but the build-up to the Games has been overshadow­ed by the Russian drug crisis.
0 The Olympic rings are in place at the Beach Volleyball Arena on Copacabana Beach but the build-up to the Games has been overshadow­ed by the Russian drug crisis.
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