LAUSANNE: Russia was banned Tuesday from the 2018 Winter Games by the International Olympic Committee over its state-orchestrated doping program, but clean Russian athletes will be allowed to compete under an Olympic flag.
The sanction was the toughest ever levelled by the IOC for drug cheating and came just 65 days ahead of the Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
In announcing the decision, IOC president Thomas Bach accused Russia of “perpetrating an unprecedented attack on the integrity of the Olympic Games and sport.”
An explosive report by the World Anti-doping Agency (WADA) and two subsequent IOC investigations have confirmed that Russian athletes took part in an elaborate drug cheating program which peaked during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
Mounting evidence has indicated that the scheme involved senior government officials, including from the sports ministry, with help from secret state agents.
The IOC also banned Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko — who was sports minister during the Sochi Games — for life.
Mutko is currently the head of the organizing committee for the 2018 World Cup, which Russia is hosting.
Attention will quickly turn to see if football’s world governing body FIFA allows the scandal-tainted ally of President Vladimir Putin to retain his senior World Cup role.
In a statement, FIFA said it had “taken note” of the IOC decision but it had “no impact on the preparations” for Russia 2018.
The IOC also suspended the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) and its chief Alexander Zhukov.
Zhukov said he “apologized” to the IOC on Tuesday for the “anti-doping violations” committed in his country in recent years.
The Winter Olympics’ South Korean organizers said Wednesday they would prefer if Russians competed under their own flag, but accepted as “second-best” the IOC ruling.
Lee Hee-Bum, chief of the Pyeongchang organizing committee for February’s Winter Olympics, added the decision caught the Games organizers off guard.
“We did not know that it (the punishment) would be this much,” Lee said, adding there was a “heated debate” among the IOC members before reaching the decision.
The move raises the prospect of Moscow boycotting the Games, something that organizers will be desperate to avoid as they battle low ticket sales and concern over North Korea’s nuclear and missile tests.
The IOC had the option of hitting Russia with a blanket ban, the so-called nuclear option that was applied to apartheid-era South Africa from 1964 to 1988.
The IOC’s decision to choose a more moderate path offers some Russian athletes a route to competing in the Games — although that will be by invitation only and dependent on a stringent testing program.
“The IOC, at its absolute discretion, will ultimately determine the athletes to be invited from the list,” the IOC said in a statement.
No Russian athlete with a previous doping violation will be allowed to compete and no official who had a leadership role at Sochi 2014 will be invited to Pyeongchang.
Those athletes who do go to the Games will participate under the name “Olympic Athlete from Russia” and the country’s flag will not fly at any 2018 ceremony, the IOC also said.
The US Olympic Committee praised the IOC’s “strong and principled decision.
“There were no perfect options, but this decision will clearly make it less likely that this ever happens again,” it said.
For Grigory Rodchenkov, the former Russian laboratory chief and whistleblower who lifted the lid on the cheating scheme, the IOC’s action was a needed step to clean up the Olympic movement.
“It was the most elaborate and sophisticated doping system in the history of sports. If it did not carry the most significant sanction it would simply have emboldened Russia and other countries who don’t respect the rules,” Rodchenkov’s lawyer, Jim Walden, told reporters on a conference call.
Russian officials have previously met doping accusations with defiance.
Mutko has said the allegations were an attempt “to create an image of an axis of evil” against his country while Putin has warned that a Russia ban would cause “serious harm to the Olympic movement.”
He said forcing Russian athletes to compete under a neutral flag would amount to a national “humiliation.”
That has fueled speculation that Moscow would instruct its athletes to boycott the compromise solution decided by the IOC.
“An Olympic boycott has never achieved anything,” Bach said, insisting that given the window left open for clean athletes to compete, a boycott was unwarranted.
But the IOC expulsion sparked immediate outrage in Russia.
Deputy speaker of the Russian parliament’s lower house, the State Duma, Pyotr Tolstoy has already called for a boycott.
“They are humiliating the whole of Russia through the absence of its flag and anthem,” he said in televised remarks. The president of Russia’s Bobsleigh Federation, Alexander Zubkov told Russian TV that the IOC decision was a “humiliation.”
“This is a punch in the stomach,” he said.
Russia banned from 2018 Winter Olympics over doping
Russia banned from 2018 Winter Olympics over doping
Al-Hilal complete second-half comeback against ten-man Al-Nassr to extend SPL lead
- Simone Inzaghi’s side move onto 38 points after a 3-1 victory, seven clear of Al-Nassr
- Al-Nassr goalkeeper Nawaf Al-Aqidi was sent off in the 60th minute for violent conduct
RIYADH: It was an evening of football drama in Riyadh as the much-anticipated Capital Derby between Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr took place at the Kingdom Arena in the headline fixture of Matchday 15. With Al-Nassr four points behind the league leaders prior to the game, victory was essential for Jorge Jesus’ side as they remain in search for their first Saudi Pro League title in seven years.
The game kicked off at a slow place. Inzaghi, setting up his Al-Hilal side in a 5-4-1 defensive shape, tried to draw Al-Nassr deep into their half to exploit them on the counter. With Rúben Neves playing in the middle of a back three, his long passes proved key for the Blues as they targeted the space behind Al-Nassr’s defence.
Al-Nassr did not respond as expected. Jesus’ side have played at a blistering pace this season, characterised by a relentless high press, but this encounter saw Al-Nassr adopt a more cautious approach. Instead, they relied on moments of individual brilliance to break past the compact Al-Hilal structure.
Kingsley Coman was central to that strategy, as his movement between the channels saw the visitors’ most dangerous momment in the 19th minute. Mohammed Al-Rubaie, who had a shaky start in goal, managed to tip the ball wide for a corner.
Neither side appeared willing to overcommit, with the play concentrated in midfield. It was there that João Félix, spotting Coman on the shoulder of his defender, lofted a pass from deep to release the Frenchman, who laid it off to Cristiano Ronaldo for the opener.
Jesus’ first-half paid off, with the goal on the cusp of half-time giving Al-Nassr a vital boost heading into the break. They managed to keep the pressure on early in the second half, but the tide changed within minutes.
Malcom, attempting to cut inside for a shot, was brought down by Mohamed Simakan for a penalty in the 56th minute. Salem Al-Dawsari slotted it with confidence to bring the hosts back into the game, but the defining moment followed shortly after.
As Al-Hilal attempted to retrieve the ball from the net, Al-Nassr goalkeeper Nawaf Al-Aqidi intervened. In the ensuing scramble, he struck Neves in an incident deemed violent conduct by the referee as he was given his marching orders in the 60th minute.
Despite being reduced to ten men, Al-Nassr did not retreat. However, with Angelo sacrificed for replacement goalkeeper Mubarak Al-Buainain, their attacking threat diminished, making clear chances increasingly difficult to come by.
This opened the door for Al-Hilal’s return into the game, and in the 81st minute, a pinpoint cross by Neves from the left flank found Mohammed Kanno who finished to give the hosts the lead.
Ronaldo was substituted soon after, as Jesus sought fresh impetus through youngster Wesley, but the change failed to alter the course of the match. Al-Hilal were once again awarded a penalty after Al-Dawsari was brought down in stoppage time, before Neves stepped up to convert his penalty for Al-Hilal’s third of the night.
Al-Nassr, who began the season with ten consecutive wins, have now gone four games without a victory — three of them defeats. Their tally freezes at 31 points, as Al-Hilal move clear at the summit onto 38.
Elsewhere in the Saudi Pro League, Al-Hazem moved further clear of the relegation zone after a stunning comeback against Al-Najma. The latter, who were minutes away from their first win of the season, conceded two goals in the sixth and eighth minute of stoppage time to succumb to a 3-2 defeat. Meanwhile, Al-Ettifaq welcomed Al-Khaleej in the Eastern Province, losing 2-1 after a Jack Hendry own goal in the 86th minute gifted the visitors the win.
Action returns on Tuesday, with Al-Okhdood facing Al-Kholood at 6:25pm, followed by Al-Fateh against Al-Riyadh and Damac against Al-Ittihad, both kicking off at 8:30pm.
