IOC Leadership Faces Doping Crisis

(ATR) The next steps in the overhaul of the fight against doping could be taken at this week’s meeting of the IOC Executive Board in Lausanne.

The EB meeting comes after nearly 100 athletes from the Beijing and London Olympics have tested positive for drugs in retesting carried out in the past six months. Of the 98 positive retests, 49 are for medalists, with the greatest number, 19, from Russia. The majority of the positive medalists are from weightlifting. And women outnumber men, 31 to 18.

The controversial retesting will be covered on day two of the three-day meeting. As a prelude to the EB, IOC President Thomas Bach and WADA President Craig Reedie met in Lausanne Monday.

"Both expressed their determination to move forward together with the shared goal of strengthening the fight against doping and protecting clean athletes," says a statement from the IOC.

The two men have had sharp differences over how to deal with accusations that anti-doping in Russia is riddled with corruption and manipulation. The charges were leveled in a July report by Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren, hired by WADA as an independent investigator.

Reedie’s WADA urged that all Russians be excluded from the Rio Olympics. But Bach convinced the IOC to allow individual sport federations to decide whether to allow Russians to compete. The IAAF banned all Russian track and field athletes while the International Paralympics Committee blocked all Russian competitors from the Rio Paralympics.

"There was a very positive atmosphere in our meeting today, and I am very happy that any perceived misunderstandings could be clarified. We agreed to continue to work closely together to strengthen the fight against doping under the leadership of WADA," Bach is quoted in the statement.

The IOC president is calling for reforms that take responsibility for testing from the federations and IOC and vest it with an independent agency. So far, no definitive framework has been set for this proposal to be implemented. Cost and governance are the big points that must be settled Reedie tells Around the Rings.

"Our meeting today was very useful and we agreed to cooperate on a range of issues involving the proposed Independent Testing Agency, the future governance structure of WADA and different definitions of non-compliance under the World Anti-Doping Code. I believe this will greatly enhance the work needed to protect clean athletes," Reedie says. Still an IOC member in Great Britain, Reedie was also a member of the IOC executive board until his term ended earlier this year.

More issues may arise Dec. 9, the day after the scheduled conclusion of the EB when McLaren presents the findings of the second report he’s conducted into the Russian scandal. The new report will examine accusations of a whistleblower that urine samples taken at the 2014 Winter Olympics were subject to tampering while supposedly under lock and key at the testing lab in Sochi.

Depending on the findings of the report, the EB could be dealing with the question of eligibility for athletes at the 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang as well as potential disqualifications from Sochi.

Day one of the EB meeting will include new figures from the Rio Olympics for broadcasting and public opinion, Around the Rings is told.

Rio 2016 President Carlos Nuzman will report for the final time to the EB on day two. Reports will also be presented on the organizing committees for the 2018, 2020 and 2024 Olympics, as well as Youth Olympic Games for 2018 and 2020.

The 14-member EB will be missing one of its members, Patrick Hickey of Ireland. Hickey self-suspended himself from office in August after he was arrested on charges of breaking Brazilian law for the resale of tickets allocated to the Olympic Council of Ireland. He is not allowed to leave Brazil until the posting of a $439,000 bail, believed to be imminent. Hickey, who denies the charges, wants to return to Ireland to receive treatment of a heart illness.

Until Hickey’s case is resolved, his seat will be held in abeyance. He was re-elected to a new four-year term in Rio de Janeiro just two weeks before his arrest as the Games were drawing to a close. He was elected to the board as the designated representative of the Association of National Olympic Committees, from which he has self-suspended his position as senior vice president, as well as his presidency of the Olympic Council of Ireland.

This EB meeting will mark the first for the newly elected chair of the IOC Athletes Commission, Angela Ruggiero.

The Executive Board meeting is scheduled to conclude on Dec. 8, but the IOC President is known for his alacrity while leading these meetings, which could mean an earlier finish. The EB is meeting at the Palace Hotel in Lausanne while a new headquarters is built over the next two years on the shoreline of Lake Geneva.

On the scene coverage of the EB in Lausanne will be reported by Senior Editor Mark Bisson as he marks his 10 year anniversary with Around the Rings.

Written by Ed Hula.

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