IOC Chief: Tough Sanctions if Sochi Doping Allegations Proven

(ATR) Thomas Bach refuses to rate Russia’s chances of its IAAF ban being lifted for Rio 2016 and declined to speculate on whether the Russian Olympic Committee could be suspended.

In an Op-Ed on Wednesday, Bach had already announced possible bans from Rio 2016 for entire Russian sports federations and lifelong suspensions for "any implicated person" if the allegations of state-sponsored doping at the Sochi 2014 Games – a "shocking new dimension in doping" – are proven.

WADA is to investigate the allegations about the cover-up of samples at Sochi’s anti-doping laboratory that Bach today said in a teleconference involving more than 100 international media were "very worrying".

"We are clear if these allegations are true we will hold everybody responsible who is implicated and there are different kinds of actions possible," he told reporters.

Bach was asked if the Russian Olympic Committee might be banned."I will not speculate on the result because there comes a decision we have to make between collective responsibility and individual justice," he said, adding that collective responsibility depends on the "degree of involvement of such as community".

The IAAF Council is scheduled to decide on June 17 whether to lift the suspension on Russia or to ban it from the Rio 2016 Olympics.

Bach made it clear that the IAAF was responsible for the decision, declining to say how much influence the IOC might have over the ruling.

Asked by ATR to rate Russia’s chances of participating at this summer’s Olympics – 50:50, more or less – he declined the opportunity, saying only that protecting clean athletes was the "top priority of the IOC".

Could he imagine a team of Russian athletes competing under the Olympic flag at the Rio Games?"I won’t enter into speculation what all this would mean," he responded to a question from another reporter.

Bach called on whistleblowers to come forward with information and make use of the IOC’s integrity and compliance hotline "to enable WADA to come to a result which shows the full picture and which then can make a real judgment whether or to which degree these allegations are true".

"We need a fair procedure for everybody. After establishment of the facts we will act decisively," he said, noting that the Russian Olympic Committee had offered its full cooperation on Wednesday.

Referring to the announcement yesterday that 31 athletes had tested positive following retesting of Beijing 2008 doping samples – with more likely when the results of re-analysis of 250 London 2012 samples – Bach said it was part of the IOC’s effort to protect clean athletes and "keep dopers away from the Olympic Games, to protect the clean athletes and integrity of Olympic competition in Rio".

Bach insisted the IOC was doing as much as possible to ensure a level playing field for athletes competing at Rio 2016."We have demonstrated we are doing everything to protect clean athletes," he said.

Asked if Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko, who is engulfed in the state-sponsored doping scandal, should pay the price and be fired, Bach said "responsible decisions" should be based on "established facts and not allegations".

"We are holding everybody responsible within our reach who is implicated," he said, declining comment when pressed about whether he still trusted Mutko.

Reported by Mark Bisson

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