Russian Paralympics may now face the boot
McLaren’s findings are of serious concern for everyone committed to clean and honest sport. International Paralympic Committee president Philip Craven
Russia face being kicked out of the Paralympics in Rio in the latest disciplinary action by a sports body infuriated at growing evidence about the country’s state-sponsored doping programme.
The International Paralympic Committee’s decision yesterday to start suspension proceedings against Russia came two days before IOC leaders decide whether to exclude the country’s entire team from the Olympics next month in Brazil.
The IPC’s strong condemnation of Russia’s years of doping deception, including the 2014 Paralympics in Sochi, pulls back on the support they gave the country last month. It follows the publication of a World Anti-Doping Agency investigation by Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren into Russia’s state-backed doping which found samples from Paralympic athletes were made to disappear or were swapped.
“The report revealed an unimaginable scale of institutionalised doping in Russian sport orchestrated at the highest level,” IPC president Philip Craven said. “McLaren’s findings are of serious concern for everyone committed to clean and honest sport.”
The IPC decried a “prevailing doping culture endemic within Russian sport at the very highest levels” and said the country’s Paralympic body “appears unable or unwilling to ensure compliance with and the enforcement” of anti-doping measures. The IPC are sending 19 samples from the Sochi Paralympic Winter Games for immediate further analysis after McLaren’s investigators said they could have been doctored by Russian authorities.
Russia finished second in the medal standings at the 2012 London Paralympics and have 267 athlete slots for Rio in 18 sports.
A decision is expected in early August on whether to ban Russia from September’s Paralympics. Russia would have 21 days to appeal.
“We have started proceedings to consider the suspension of their membership of the IPC,” Craven said. “This decision was not taken lightly but Russia appears unable to fulfil its IPC membership obligations in full.”
The news comes on the back of revelations 45 more athletes, including 31 medallists, were caught for doping after retesting of samples from the last two Summer Olympics, the IOC said yesterday.
The new cases bring to 98 the total number of athletes who have failed tests so far in the reanalysis of their stored samples from the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2012 London Games.
Using “the very latest scientific analysis methods,” the latest round of retests produced 30 “provisional” positive findings from Beijing and 15 confirmed positives from London.
The IOC said 23 medallists from Beijing and eight medal winners from London were among those caught. No names were given.