Putin friends will put his needs first
STATE-SPONSORED doping offences committed by Russia have become so widely accepted and were going on for so long that the sporting world has become blasé about them.
Until now.
We can be flippant over the prospect of a team of ‘neutrals’ taking part in World Cup 2022, with no flag, no anthem, just a kit bought at the local Sports Directski. A red kit, of course. Guess they will have to have a name as well. Kremlin Rovers?
But this is serious.
“This is the biggest sports scandal the world has ever seen,” said Linda Helleland, vice-president of WADA.
And there have been some meaty sports scandals over time.
If those at WADA really do consider it the biggest, then the punishment has to be unprecedented.
That is why a four-year ban from major sporting events is an utterly appropriate sanction. It has got to mean something.
There were 168 Russian athletes competing at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, even though their country was banned after doping violations at the 2014 Games which they were hosting.
WADA allowed that loophole by saying those who could prove they were ‘untainted’ by the Russian drugs scandal could take part as ‘neutrals’.
It looks like it’s going to be pretty much the same again.
Well, sorry, but when the crimes are this serious any meaningful response by the authorities has to have collateral damage. It’s deeply unfortunate but there has to be innocent victims. Tough.
FIFA is having discussions with WADA ‘to clarify the extent of the decision in regards to football’.
Like at every other major sporting event under WADA’S jurisdiction, this latest punishment should mean the national team from Russia cannot be at the World Cup in Qatar in three years’ time. Simple as that.
But judging by the way FIFA fawned over Vladimir Putin and Russia at World Cup 2018, do not hold your breath on that one. Putin gave Gianni Infantino a medal after the World Cup. It was the Order of Friendship.
And when you become a friend of Putin’s, the favours work both ways.