EDITORIALS Scandals erode sport’s appeal
The doping scandal that has rocked the International Association of Athletics Federations strikes at the heart of sport, because it undermines the positive principles associated with athletic competition: sportsmanship, integrity, teamwork, fair play and excellence.
It is discouraging to Canada’s honest athletes, many of whom take advantage of Vancouver Island’s congenial climate to train year-round for international competition, and disheartening to those who enjoy watching and supporting high-calibre sports events.
The World Anti-Doping Agency says top officials of the IAAF, the international governing body for track and field, have for years been abusing their positions and have possibly engaged in criminal behaviour.
The report is the result of an investigation by an independent commission that has spent more than a year examining accusations of widespread doping and corruption. Leading the commission is Canadian Dick Pound, two-time vice-president of the International Olympic Committee and founder of the anti-doping agency. The other two members are Richard H. McLaren, a University of Western Ontario law professor recognized internationally as an expert on sports law, and Günter Younger, head of the cybercrime department with the Bavarian police in Germany.
The first phase of the commission’s inquiry, completed in November, accused Russia of running a state-sponsored doping program. As a result, the IAAF suspended Russia from global competition.
The second report, released Thursday, says the IAAF not only knew about the Russian doping, but assisted in covering it up. Top officials, says the report, were complicit in keeping tainted athletes in competition, extorting money from athletes and delaying the processing of drugtest violations.
The report specifically names Lamine Diack, the IAAF’s longtime president until last August, and its former treasurer, Valentin Balakhnichev of Russia, along with high-ranking advisers, including a lawyer and medical doctor once in charge of policing doping violations. Allegations include bribery, blackmail and nepotism.
The situation has echoes of scandals at the IOC and FIFA, the international governing body for soccer, but Pound described those as “a bunch of people sitting at a table passing money to each other,” while the IAAF corruption is unique in that it affects the outcome of competition on the field.
As one sports-agency scandal piles onto another, it erodes confidence in the integrity of the game. Are we watching to see who is best in the sport, or who is best at cheating?
The field of international athletic competition is a highstakes game. Billions of dollars are involved in sponsorships, staging games, television rights and building careers. It’s not surprising that unscrupulous people will seize opportunities to enrich themselves.
But if that corruption becomes widespread among the competitors on the field, the essence of sport is eroded, and its appeal is diminished. As much as we want our team or favourite athlete to win, much of the attraction is the uncertainty, the drama and tension involved as we watch to see who wins.
It would be naïve to think there will never be cheating, but faith in athletic competition can be kept alive if its governing bodies make thorough and determined efforts to detect and discipline the cheaters.
We take great pride when B.C. athletes compete on the international stage. We would like to think their training and dedication are not in vain.
How sad it will be if sports becomes just another staged entertainment event, with the outcome decided by the cheaters, the money-changers and the power-brokers.