Doping Investigator McLaren Slams IOC

(ATR) Richard McLaren has again criticized the IOC and WADA for their response to the findings of his two reports on state-sponsored doping in Russia.

Giving testimony to a German parliamentary sports committee in Berlin, the Canadian lawyer underlined his deep disappointment at the progress being made to overhaul the world's doping laws in the wake of his bombshell revelations on the government-directed doping cover-up.

"I have not said anything in public about how the international sport community should react, but it frustrates me more and more what has happened," he told the sports committee.

"We need to take concrete steps to tackle the problem. After my second report, I've been discouraged because the IOC, WADA and international sport have been half-hearted. I wonder sometimes if there is a will to reform at all."

McLaren’s investigation laid bare the institutionalized cover-up of Russian doping in two separate dossiers that led to the IAAF banning Russia from the Rio Games. More than 1000 athletes across multiple Olympic sports were found to be part of the nation's doping program from 2011 to 2015.

But last July the IOC left it to other international federations to decide on the eligibility of Russian athletes. WADA has since drafted doping reforms, while two IOC commissions are investigating McLaren’s findings and re-analyzing doping samples from the London 2012 and Sochi 2014 Olympics.

Swiss IOC member Denis Oswald told Around the Rings in March that he hopes to deliver an interim report to the IOC in the summer. But he doesn’t expect the IOC to be in a position to rule on Russia’s participation at the PyeongChang Olympics until at least the end of the year.

McLaren was among the speakers at the German meeting on Wednesday. IOC director general Christophe De Kepper and German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) chief Alfons Hörmann also commented on the doping scandal that has rocked world sport.

The doping investigator and WADA president Craig Reedie are set to meet IOC president Thomas Bach to resolve their differences. Bach spoke about this weeks ago but ATR is told that no date has been set.

McLaren is hopeful his meeting with Bach will lead to action. "I'll meet with the IOC president soon… now it's about how to make a change." He said he was confident the results of the two IOC commissions will be "very similar to mine".

Hörmann supported McLaren’s frustrations about the slow pace of progress on global doping reforms and in ruling on Russia.

"We are in favor of this dissatisfaction from the perspective of German sport. We can only demand that the existing systems be broken through," he said.

The DOSB president urged the IOC to accelerate its work to rule on Russia’s participation at next February’s PyeongChang Olympics to avoid a repeat of the chaos and confusion in determining athletes’ eligibility that preceded the Rio Olympics. In the end, around 270 Russian athletes were allowed to take part.

"Pyeongchang is not allowed to be a second Rio," said Hörmann: "Therefore the time factor has to be taken into account in all commissions, otherwise a similar scenario threatens to occur as in Rio."

Hörmann said Russia should be hit with "clear and harsh sanctions" if the country didn’t meet WADA code compliance and athletes were found to have cheated.

But there was some depressing news for McLaren and Hörmann. The IOC told the sports committee of the German parliament that possible sanctions against Russia were far from imminent.

"At the present time, due to the necessary further extensive investigations, no time can be reliably predicted for the completion of the IOC sanction procedures," the IOC letter said, adding that "the goal is to make a decision" by the time of the PyeongChang Olympics.

The IOC’s De Kepper said he expects "further sanctions" for Russia after the investigations are completed. "I cannot give any estimates as to what possibilities there will be, and this will mainly depend on the burden of proof," he said.

"The present evidence must be court-strong. We need to wait and see what the conclusions are," he added. "Only on this basis can sanctions be imposed. Then we will take our responsibility."

Reported by Heinz Peter Kreuzer in Germany andMark Bisson

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