#rio2015

In April 2014, Andrey Baranov, a Russian sports agent, wrote and signed a deposition to the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), detailing the bribery and extortion related to doping in Russian athletics. 

In December 2014, German documentary maker Hajo Seppelt, released a documentary alleging that up to 99% of the Russian Olympic team use doping and that a network of corruption has been put in place to cover up positive tests involving officials of the Russian anti-doping agency, the doping control laboratory in Moscow, as well as the IAAF.

Seppelt himself was contacted by two whistleblowers within Russian sports: a former 800m runner now banned for abnormalities in her biological passport, and her husband, a former official at the Russian anti-doping agency, RUSADA.

In response, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) launched an Independent Commission to investigate. On November 9th of this year they released their report.

Allegations made in the ARD documentary were corroborated through testimony, digital recordings, interviews, analysis of records and documentary exhibits. The IC finds that a scheme promoting the illicit use of PEDs is institutionalized within ARAF, and supported by certain coaches against whom the IC has recommended a number of disciplinary sanctions to WADA for transmission to the IAAF.

Runner’s World outlined the main takeaways of the 323-page report as follows:

- Coaches, officials in the Russian track and field federation, officials in Russia’s anti-doping agency, and others, organized efforts “to promote doping and make it possible for such efforts to be successful, including the cover-up of certain positive cases of doping.”

- The International Association of Athletics Federations and the Russian federation did not take action on doping cases, leading to athletes who should have been banned competing in and medaling at the 2012 Olympics.

- More than 1,400 positive drug-test results were destroyed, some at an unaccredited lab, to keep them from WADA.

- State security services likely participated and other evidence revealed “that the federal government was not only complicit in the collusion, but that it was effectively a state-sponsored regime.”

- Bribes were accepted by high-level IAAF officials to ignore positive doping tests.

The IAAF took action after the report was published and it’s council members voted 22-1 in favor of provisionally suspending Russia from international athletic competitions, including the Rio 2016 Olympics. Russia will undertake reforms and appeal the decision in the hopes of having the ban lifted before the Olympics. If the ban is not lifted in time, Russian athletes hope that they may be allowed the opportunity to compete as independent athletes under the Olympic flag instead. At this time, however, it’s unclear just how viable that option is, as the athletic community has lost hope in Russian athletics as a whole, regardless of how many clean athletes there might be.

Baranov insists that the focus must not only be on Russia and encourages the IAAF to look into athletes from Kenya and Ethiopia as well.

In the wake of the scandal, calls to better encourage and protect sports whistleblowers have gone up to the IAAF. Retaliation pervades the stories of past sports whistleblowers. Former WADA president Dick Pound has praised the courage of the whistleblowers, but his recommendations that the WADA implement a whistleblower assistant and protection program has largely fallen on deaf ears. When asked whether he was worried about retaliation, Baranov admitted, 

MVP: Earvin N'Gapeth (Francja)