For lack of evidence

The turning point in the history of doping among Russian athletes last Saturday, when the World Anti -Doping Agency (WADA) officially admitted that the report of an independent commission led by Richard McLaren, not enough evidence that Russian athletes violated the anti -doping rules. This follows from the open letter of the Director General of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) Christophe de Cepper.

The letter states that the IOC and the Olympic movement have recently taken a number of actions to protect pure athletes and contributed to the fight against doping. Given the public resonance that causes this topic all over the world, the committee published fresh information on this topic. So, at the end of last year, Richard McLaren presented the second part of the commission’s report, the document said that about a thousand Russian athletes were related to violations with doping tests during the Winter Olympiad in Sochi in 2014. Then this statement forced the IOC to take up the rechecking of all the samples that were taken during the Sochi Olympiad.

“At a recent meeting organized by WADA in Lausanne for international sports federations in order to clarify how to interpret the data from the McLaren report, WADA admitted that in many cases evidence in relation to Russians may not be enough to apply sanctions to them. WADA also noted that the translations of the texts used in the report were inaccurate and requested more detailed decryptions, ”said de Cepper.

Nevertheless, the same letter says that before the 2018 Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, Russians will be checked for doping with addiction: “IOC supports WADA in the issue of restoring trust in the Russian anti -doping bodies. Nevertheless, to the Olympic Games of 2018, each Russian athlete will be a doping test with more stringent criteria than athletes from other countries, ”writes the head of the IOC.

Recall that the December report of McLaren led to the fact that Russia was deprived of the right to hold the 2017 World Cup in Bobslei and Skeleton. From Sochi, he was transferred to Germany. The Union of Biathlonists of Russia refused to hold the stage of the World Cup in Tyumen this year. Tyumen may also be deprived of the right to hold the Biathlon World Cup in 2021. At the same time, Russia initially indicated the lack of evidence in McLaren's report: all key theses and accusations of the commission were built on the words of the ex-head of the Moscow anti-doping laboratory Grigory Rodchenkov. However, WADA only partially partially agreed with the official position of Moscow.

The Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation Pavel Kolobkov said that the department agrees with the WADA position in this matter. “We continue to work with the organization on the restoration of the Russad and bringing it into line with the WADA code,” the minister said .

In the State Duma, the recognition of WADA about the insufficiency of evidence against Russian athletes is considered the beginning of the rehabilitation of Russian sports. This was stated by a member of the Committee on Physical Culture, Sports, Tourism and Youth Policy Dmitry Svishchev. “It’s good that they heard us, and the sound mind began to prevail over delirium and absurdity from McLaren's report. The admission of our athletes is already carried out, this is a single character, but it is still positive. The movement began towards the rehabilitation of Russian sports, I am sure that this will positively affect all our athletes. Of course, without the full participation of the Russian team, world sport loses a lot, ”TASS quoted Svishcheva.

The report of McLaren initially did not inspire confidence in Russian experts, and often expressed the opinion that he could only be a tool in order to harm Russia. So, for example, the head of the International Hockey Federation and a member of the IOC Rene Fasel believes: “We ( the International Hockey Federation-Prim. ) We were sure that evidence against Russia was not enough, and wanted to see the Russian team at the Winter Olympic Games. Some people simply used this report to prevent Russia. I am very glad that step by step we are moving towards justice, to where we should be. I am sure that this is a positive step in Russia's admission to the Olympic Games in Korea, ”he said in a commentary to R-Sport.

The chairman of the independent public anti -doping commission of the Russian Olympic Committee Vitaliy Smirnov also welcomed the recognition of WADA: “This is such a very real step that says that the International Olympic Committee is aware that not everything is so unambiguous, and it is unconditionally to recognize all those accusations set out in the McLaren report,” he said to RIA Novosti.

Smirnov especially emphasized that Richard McLaren himself adjusted his opinion on doping in Russia, in particular, he abandoned the accusations that the state system of doping organization operates in Russia: “This was already recognizing from him that he had charged unproven,” Smirnov added.