IOC Bans Russia From 2018 Winter Olympics Due To Widespread Doping

The International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) decision to ban Russia from being a part of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games in South Korea does not come as a surprise as the IOC has been conducting a long and detailed investigation into the widespread doping allegations surrounding Russian athletes and officials.

The IOC examined all of the evidence and found Russia guilty of encouraging its athletes to use steroids, deliberately tamper with the Olympic lab to contaminate the samples and have a complacent attitude towards doping in the Olympics.

The IOC decided to slap Russia with a fine of $15 million and has banned Russia from displaying its flag at the Opening Ceremony or playing its national anthem.

RT

This was one of the harshest punishments dished out by the IOC in its history. However, the IOC has also provided a small ray of hope for Russian athlete to still feature in the Olympics. This provision is only application to athletes who have been rigorously drug tested in the past and have passed their tests. They will be eligible to attend the Olympics but cannot represent Russia and will have to compete in a neutral uniform. A special committee will be formed by the IOC who will review these applications and decide whether they are eligible to complete in Pyeongchang.

The Russian doping scandal broke when two whistleblowers came out and disclosed shocking details of a state sponsored doping program. The whistleblowers were Grigory Rodchenkov who was Russia’s anti-doping lab chief for 10 years and Vitaly Stepanov, an ex-employee of Russia’s anti-doping agency. Rodchenkov played a key role in tampering with over 100 urine samples during the 2014 Sochi Olympic games.

The IOC has decided to strip Russian athletes who have won medals at the 2014 Sochi Olympic games and confer the same on the athletes who won and competed fairly. This will take quite a bit of time as the IOC has to deal with the set of legal appeals filed by Russian athletes who won medals at Sochi.

In a statement, Vitaly Stepanov said

The world knows that hundreds of Olympic dreams have been stolen by the doping system in the country where I was born. The evidence is clear, that the doping system in Russia has not yet been truly reformed.

Russia is yet to respond to the IOC ban but the former Russian sports minister Vitaly Smirnov has come out and said that everyone is discussing how to punish Russia but no one is thinking about how to help Russia.