REAL ACTION MUST BE TAKEN — TREACY
THE International Olympic Committee remain out of touch with athletes, Sport Ireland CEO John Treacy said yesterday. ‘There has been a continual shift of the goalposts in relation to the reinstatement of Russia’s compliance. That there has been yet another roadblock put in place by Russia is not a surprise and now it is time for WADA to take strong action, convene a meeting of the Compliance Review Committee without delay and declare them noncompliant until such time as all conditions have been met in full,’ said Treacy. ‘Anything less than this will have a devastating impact on the anti-doping system. Clean athletes globally need to know they are competing on a fair and level playing field. ‘Comments made yesterday by the president of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, which are extremely unhelpful, demonstrate why the IOC are out of touch with athletes. The comments also underline why the IOC should not be involved in the decision making when it comes to matters of anti-doping. ‘It is now up to WADA to act decisively and quickly, otherwise there will be no consequence for a country that has been proven to operate a systematic doping regime.’ Sport Ireland’s director of participation and ethics, Dr Una May, added: ‘National anti-doping organisations worldwide are working hard to protect the integrity of sport and the interests of clean athletes. We all need to have trust in the international anti-doping system and it is up to WADA to act as the gatekeeper in that regard. Strong and decisive action is required immediately as trust in the system is quickly deteriorating.’