LAUSANNE: The International Olympic Committee said Tuesday it will study “legal options” before deciding whether to ban Russia from the Rio Games over its state-run doping program.
But Russia’s Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko was barred from attending the Games and the IOC ordered a disciplinary commission to look into his ministry’s role in what a report called a “state-dictated failsafe system” if drug cheating.
The IOC executive held emergency talks Tuesday on a bombshell inquiry commissioned by the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) into the state doping at the Sochi Winter Olympics and other major events in Russia.
The IOC said it would not give backing to any international events in Russia because of the scandal but had to put back a decision on whether to bar Russia from the Rio Games, which start Aug. 5.
WADA has called for Russia to be banned from international competition. And IOC president Thomas Bach called the doping scandal a “shocking and unprecedented attack on the integrity of sport and on the Olympic Games.”
But the IOC said it “will explore the legal options with regard to a collective ban of all Russian athletes for the Olympic Games 2016 versus the right to individual justice.”
The Olympic leadership said it will also have to wait for a Court of Arbitration for Sports decision ruling Thursday on an appeal by 68 Russian athletes against an IAAF ban from competition.
Lead investigator Richard McLaren said Monday he had conclusive evidence that the four-year doping scheme was directed by the sports ministry with the FSB intelligence agency.
The IOC said it will not grant any Rio accreditation “to any official of the Russian Ministry of Sport or any person implicated in the (McLaren) report.”
That includes Mutko, who has denied that the government directed the doping program.
Mutko has already suspended five top deputies, including his number two Yury Nagornykh, described as the point man for running the cheating scheme.
The IOC is now racing against the clock to reach a final position on the status of Russian athletes in Rio.
WADA, the German Olympic committee and anti-doping bodies across the globe have backed calls for Russia’s outright ban from Rio.
That would be the first time a country has been banned from an Olympic Games over doping.
But the Association of Summer Olympic Federations and other groups have urged caution, pointing to the ethical issues of punishing athletes who have never failed drug tests.
The International Association of Athletics Federations has already barred Russian track and field contenders from Rio after a inquiry into widespread state-sponsored doping in the sport.
The CAS will rule Thursday on whether the IAAF had grounds to impose a blanket ban on a national federation, since such a suspension inevitably punished athletes with no positive drug test on their record.
The two sides met with CAS judges in Geneva on Thursday.
IOC executives also ordered a re-analysis of all samples by Russian athletes taken at the 2014 Winter Olympics, vowing punishment against anyone who helped competitors cheat.
Because the Sochi Games are so tainted, the IOC said it would not give backing to any international sports events in Russia.
It called on “all International Olympic Winter Sports Federations to freeze their preparations for major events in Russia.”
This includes world championships and World Cups, the IOC said, calling or winter federations “to actively look for alternative organizers.”
The Russian Olympic Committee has acknowledged the severity of the allegations but insisted that collective punishment against possibly clean athletes would leave “the integrity of the Olympic Movement...endangered.”
Senior sports and political leaders in Moscow have also questioned the credibility of McLaren’s key witness, the former boss of Russia’s anti-doping lab Grigory Rodchenkov, who admits he was central to the cheating scheme.
Rodchenkov is currently in hiding in the United States and is wanted by Russia.
McLaren said his team uncovered forensic evidence that proved Rodchenkov’s claims that Moscow set up a “failsafe” cheating system following the country’s poor performance at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.
IOC puts back decision of Russia Rio Games ban
IOC puts back decision of Russia Rio Games ban
Chelsea paid for costly errors in Arsenal defeat, says Rosenior
LONDON: Liam Rosenior admitted Chelsea paid the price for costly mistakes after Arsenal took advantage of his side’s blunders to win 3-2 in the League Cup semifinal first leg on Wednesday.
Rosenior’s team face a tough task to set up a final against either Manchester City or Newcastle following their error-strewn display in their new manager’s first home match.
Chelsea were guilty of sloppy marking for Ben White’s early headed opener before goalkeeper Robert Sanchez gifted striker Viktor Gyokeres Arsenal’s second goal after half-time.
Alejandro Garnacho got one back for Chelsea but Martin Zubimendi then netted for Arsenal after more lacklustre defending from Rosenior’s men.
Substitute Garnacho’s second goal gave Chelsea a glimmer of hope heading into the second leg at the Emirates Stadium in February.
“Disappointed to concede from a corner. Disappointed with the third goal as well because we were right back in the game and we were on top at that moment,” Rosenior said.
“We switched off from a restart from a central free-kick but I can’t fault the players.
“We need to make sure we perform well individually and we don’t concede as many goals.”
Rosenior was without a host of key players, including Cole Palmer, Reece James and Liam Delap, due to injuries and illness.
‘It’s another step’
In his second game since replacing Enzo Maresca as Blues boss, the 41-year-old took heart from the way Chelsea kept fighting to find a way back into the tie.
“We’ve had illness in the squad, we’ve picked up a few knocks this week but what the squad has shown is that they are willing to run and fight for each other,” he said.
Rosenior, who oversaw a 5-1 FA Cup third-round win at Charlton in his debut last weekend, refused to condemn Sanchez for the latest in a long line of shaky performances.
“Rob’s a very good goalkeeper. He made an outstanding save at 3-1 to keep us in the tie, so for me load of things to improve but the overall attitude of the team I liked,” Rosenior said.
“Hopefully, we get a few bodies back for Brentford on Saturday.”
Arsenal are now unbeaten in 10 games in all competitions as they moved a step closer to their first silverware since the 2020 FA Cup.
The Gunners had lost their previous four semifinals across a variety of competitions, including the League Cup last year.
Mikel Arteta was impressed with Arsenal’s ability to subdue Chelsea for long periods, but he was left to rue their failure to kill off their London rivals.
“I have to praise the players for the performance against a really good opponents. It’s a really tough place to come. That’s why I really value what the team has done again,” Arteta said.
“We had two massive chances to score the fourth one and the result would have been very different. At that moment they created a chance and scored a goal. So it is a very different feeling. It’s game on.”
As well as leading the Premier League, Arsenal are also still chasing Champions League and FA Cup glory.
But after so many last-four failures in the recent past, Arteta won’t take anything for granted.
“It’s another step. It’s just half-time. We know the big fight we are going to have at the Emirates in a few weeks because they are a top side,” he said.
“What we’re doing every three days is impressive.”
