Calls for Russian Olympic Ban Grow Louder

(ATR) Germany’s Olympic chief and the head of U.S. figure skating join the chorus of voices in the Olympic Movement seeking strict punishments for perpetrators of the unprecedented Russian doping scandal.

Alfons Hoermann, president of the German Olympic Committee (DOSB), says that Russian athletes should be forced to sit out the next Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. Hoermann told Die Welt newspaper that a PyeongChang 2018 ban would provide a "clear signal" that the International Olympic Committee has zero tolerance for doping.

"If someone breaches the IOC charter in such a clear way, then they must face the harshest form of punishment," Hoermann said in comments published Sunday.

The DOSB chief, successor to IOC president Thomas Bach, finds it hard to believe that the Russian Olympic Committee had no knowledge of the doping programs exposed by the World Anti-Doping Agency supported McLaren report.

Each of the two investigations led by Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren found extensive evidence of doping cover up schemes throughout Russian sport from 2011-2015 but pinned the blame on Russian authorities rather than sports leaders.

"That seems hardly possible in my understanding of a sport organization in such a country as Russia," he said.

The IOC has thus far resisted punishing the entirety of Russian sport, ignoring calls from the media and sports organizations for a complete Russian ban at the Rio 2016 Olympics. The International Paralympic Committee took the opposite route and approved the Russian ban at the Rio Paralympics. Depending on further investigations into the extent of the doping program, the two organizations could see eye-to-eye on a full ban for 2018.

Hoermann’s call for harsh punishments for Russian sport join a chorus begun by National Anti-Doping Agencies (NADOs) across the globe. INADO, the international Institute of NADOs, published a statement in January with 19 signatories seeking a Russian ban at the PyeongChang 2018 Games.

U.S. Figure Skating president Sam Auxier has also joined the band. Speaking at a press conference at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships on Jan. 19, Auxier said Russians should "pay a pretty stiff penalty" for their doping infractions.

"It was state sponsored," Auxier told reporters. "It was a huge program, well-coordinated to cheat, and they should pay a pretty stiff penalty. I think the only way the IOC and the ISU (International Skating Union) maintain any level of integrity is to take a strong stand and weigh a strong penalty for those actions."

Russian figure skaters won a whopping five medals and three golds at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics. Those Games hosted by Russia are now tainted by evidence in the McLaren reports that supports claims of a urine-swapping program during the Olympics.

The IOC began disciplinary proceedings against 28 Russian athletes from the Sochi Olympics in December. These athletes were identified in the McLaren report as having benefited from the urine-swapping program and could be sanctioned by the IOC and stripped of medals if found guilty of doping.

The proceedings are being handled by the IOC Disciplinary Commission, one of two IOC commissions dealing with the fallout from the McLaren reports.

ATR is told that the workload of the two inquiries probing evidence detailed in McLaren's reports is so significant that Bach’s top team is unlikely to be equipped with enough information to decide Russia’s fate until the end of the year.

Swiss IOC member Denis Oswald, who is chairing the commission probing allegations of doping manipulation, tells ATR that an interim report will be ready for the IOC at its March 15-17 meeting in PyeongChang.

The findings and decisions of these commissions could force Bach's hand in doling out a full Russian ban at PyeongChang 2018 and possibly beyond.

Written by Kevin Nutley

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