IOC Under Pressure at Olympic Summit

(ATR) The IOC takes the next steps towards solving the crisis in Olympic sports. IOC president Thomas Bach will convene the latest Olympic Summit Saturday at Olympic headquarters with the fight against doping the priority item on the agenda.

The Olympic Summit is an ad hoc assembly of two dozen leaders of the Olympic Movement that has met regularly since Bach formed the group shortly after he was elected president in 2013. Along with the 14 members of the IOC Executive Board, the summit includes leaders of major sports federations like Sebastian Coe of the IAAF and the presidents of the three biggest NOCs, the U.S., China and Russia.

The crux of the issue is the controversy that has erupted over accusations that Russia has hidden drug cheating with a state-run system of deception.

The IAAF issued a blanket ban on Russian track and field athletes for the Rio Olympics, while the entire Paralympic team from Russia was excluded.

On the eve of the summit, the Institute of National Anti-doping Organizations says Bach "lost the anti-doping battle" in Rio by refusing to adopt a blanket ban on the Russians. INADO said the IOC "ignored its own calls for harmony and independence in anti-doping" by dismissing recommendations from WADA and national anti-doping organizations to block Russians athletes from Rio.

"The IOC failed the clean athletes of the world," INADO said in a statement, saying the Rio games would be remembered "by participation of athletes served by a Russian system that corrupted clean sport".

INADO, which represents 59 anti-doping bodies globally, urged the IOC to "redeem itself" at the Olympic Summit by making the right decisions.

It calls for strengthening WADA’s independence and for the IOC to support an independent doping control for IFs under WADA oversight and to encourage "not punish or patronize" whistleblowers.

The IOC told Around the Rings that INADO’s criticisms would be addressed at the Olympic Summit.

"Tomorrow, all key stakeholders of the Olympic Movement will discuss a review of the worldwide anti-doping system," a spokesman said.

"The Olympic Summit will discuss some principles for a more robust, more efficient and more independent worldwide anti-doping system," the IOC said in a statement.

ATR is told that a number of participants will join via conference call including Gian-Franco Kasper and Ivo Ferriani, presidents of the skiing and bobsleigh federations, who took part in the IOC’s just-ended inspection of PyeongChang 2018 preparations.

IOC member Larry Probst, also president of the U.S. Olympic Committee, says he is counting on the summit to take action.

"My expectation is that we will begin heading down the road towards a solution. I’m not sure how far down the road we will get at this meeting but I think we will make a start on this initiative.

"Seems to me it’s a no-brainer. It’s a big problem that’s got to be fixed," Probst tells Around the Rings.

New Good Governance Talks

The Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA) said Friday it wants to hold talks with the IOC, FIFA and other federations and Olympic stakeholders to discuss a new draft set of universal good governance and integrity standards for sport.

On Friday at a press conference in London, SIGA announced the launch of a consultation process with sport’s global stakeholders.

Asked if SIGA would help assist the IOC in its revamp of the anti-doping system, coordinator Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros, who has worked in European football for more than two decades, said working with the IOC was important but anti-doping "is not in our priority list".

Answering a question from Around the Rings, he said that SIGA would not "interfere" with WADA. "Others are better placed to work on that."

Speaking about the scandals that have hit FIFA, the IOC and IAAF in the past 18 months, de Medeiros said that "sport owns the problems, sports owns the solutions" with the assistance of a coalition of partners at SIGA.

He said SIGA would provide a "new strategic approach, a concerted, committed effort, a multi-stakeholder, holistic approach" which could "prevent reputational damage" for organizations such as the IOC and FIFA.

"We are in a critical moment," he said, insisting SIGA’s efforts were not focused on "naming and shaming" but on "naming and faming, encouraging sport to be best in class."

Reported by Mark Bisson

20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.