IOC head to meet with Russian doping investigator

GENEVA Doping investigator Richard McLaren has been invited for talks with IOC president Thomas Bach amid ongoing tension between Olympic sports bodies and anti-doping officials.

The offer to meet in Lausanne, Switzerland, announced Thursday, comes eight months after McLaren detailed evidence of a Russian doping conspiracy at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. McLaren’s work initially provoked calls for the IOC to ban Russia from the Rio Olympics. A total ban from the 2018 Winter Games is still possible.

On Monday in Lausanne, McLaren spoke of his frustration at “nitpicking” criticism of his work, including by the IOC.

While McLaren and Russia’s sports minister were keynote speakers this week at a World AntiDoping Agency event in Lausanne, IOC leaders have been in South Korea inspecting PyeongChang ahead of next year’s Games.

IOC spokesman Mark Adams said Thursday that Bach wants to meet McLaren and WADA president Craig Reedie to improve relations.

“Hopefully (we can) work on a better and tighter co-operation as we move forward on this issue,” Adams said.

In his letter to McLaren, Bach praised the Canadian lawyer’s work, which revealed “a massive doping program in Russia based on systematic manipulation of antidoping,” Adams said.

“This was supported by the findings of McLaren,” the IOC spokesman said, suggesting it was a “clear” message of appreciation from Bach.

The IOC sent a different message last month in an open letter to sports bodies, noting “a lack of consistent evidence” in McLaren’s investigation and suggesting “translations used by (his) team were not adequate.”

McLaren told The Associated Press on Monday that questioning translations was “a complete red herring to obfuscate and disguise what is going on.”

Any IOC decision on Russia competing in PyeongChang must await reports from two commissions it set up to analyze McLaren’s work: One will try to verify claims of a Russian statesupported program of doping and coverups, and the second will prosecute disciplinary cases against individual athletes.