Reluctant Suspension Disheartening for Clean Athletes

25 February 2018

Bonn, Germany - iNADO acknowledges the decision of the IOC to maintain the suspension of

the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) for the Closing Ceremony. Regrettably, it is evident that

it was made for pragmatic rather than principled reasons. It has taken two positive tests on

Russian athletes to force the IOC’s hand when its clear intention had been to readmit the ROC

before the closing of the Pyeongchang Games.

The disappointing fact that this is another short-lived, negotiated deal, to be lifted promptly

within the next few days, indicates the IOC’s management of this issue has gone from bad to

worse.

The IOC is the one organisation with sufficient influence to bring about a change in Russia

which would see it commit to the principles of fair play that are integral to sport. A proportionate

sanction, as called for in the iNADO ‘Open Letter’, which included requirements to acknowledge

its broken system and take significant steps to fix it, was required. In light of the current

decision, such a course of action forms no part of their agenda.

Clean athletes who have had their Olympic moments stolen, whether it be by missing a medal

or even failing to qualify as a result of false results achieved by Russian athletes, deserve a

more principled and steadfast response.

Successive decisions by the IOC in this matter have demonstrated that the interests of these

clean athletes have no priority.

Can the IOC be held to account for not demanding honesty, integrity, and fair play in this

matter? Will the sponsors and broadcasters of the Olympic Games contemplate this question?

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