If former head Jacques Rogge was still IOC president, Russia would be banned from the Rio Olympic Games for disgracing the movement.
But his replacement Thomas Bach has let Russia off the hook, despite the ongoing state-controlled doping of Russian competitors since 2011.
Yesterday Bach left the decision to the world governing bodies of 28 Olympic sports to decide if their Russian competitors are dope free for Rio. Tennis has already declared for Russia – allowing their athletes to compete.
Seeing the opening ceremony is just 12 days away, it’s a safe bet all Russian competitors, around 357 of them will be in Rio with the exception of track and field, where their governing body – the IAAF – banned them from worldwide competition back in November.
Last week the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne upheld the IAAF decision, so the Russian track and field won’t be in Rio.
That Court decision was the green light for Bach to kick Russia out of the Rio Games in total, but he trod the gutless path and handed responsibility over the individual governing sporting bodies.
His explanation – “Every human being is entitled to individual justice”.
Seeing as 20 of the 28 Olympic sports have been under state-controlled doping, that entitlement must be revoked. A stand has to be taken against cheating in sport.
And further proof of Bach’s double standards is Russian 800m track athlete Yuliya Stepanova, the whistle-blower who brought this drug disgrace to the attention of WADA, the world anti-doping agency.
On July 1, Bach as a thank you, gave Stepanova permission to compete in Rio as a neutral, until he found out she had failed drug tests herself.
So that permission was revoked.
That matters not in the light of what happened yesterday. Bach has invited Stepanova and her husband to Rio as the special guests of the IOC.
Bach has got to go, the sooner the better.
To make matters worse, if that’s possible, the Rio Olympic Village is a shambles.
The gas and electricity aren’t working, and there’s water pouring out of the light fittings.
The Australians competitors currently in Rio have had to find alternative accommodation.
As I wrote two months ago, the IOC will rue the day they awarded the Games to Rio.
But I honestly never thought Thomas Bach would turn out to be such a gutless failure as IOC president.
You live and learn.
jameswm
Roar Guru
Johno - apart from using an apostrophe every now and then, you could at least have gone for a more relevant movie for me - like Jerry Maguire - "Show me the money!!".
AlanKC
Guest
Jeez johnno, have you been asleep for a few decades. The argument about amateurs only in the Olympics broke down quite awhile ago. Although you might enjoy this article from 1927 http://archive.spectator.co.uk/article/27th-august-1927/13/the-sham-amateur
AlanKC
Guest
This bit here is quite clear "As a long-standing member and supporter of the World Anti-Doping Agency, the Australian Government continues to strongly support WADA’s recommendations that the IOC, International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and International Sporting Federations each take definitive action within their respective powers to decline entries of all athletes submitted by the Russian Olympic and Paralympic Committees." Paraphrasing - The Australian government supports the recommendation (Wada's) that each federation decline entry of all Russion Olympic and paralympic athlete submitted by the Russian committees.
Johnno
Guest
Your not a pursuit, or an idealist and you don't care, your a realist who lives in the real world. Your cool as well with the IOC sprucing amateur ideals in name only but reality being a money making machine in capitalism and corporate ambition. Basically your cool with the IOC bending the truth about amateur, and I should just get over that and acknowledge the IOC for what it is(wants to make money) and I should get over it, that we don't live in a free world and the IOC live in reality not the spin it promotes, that's just PR marketing spin about amateur ideals and purity and values, and I should get over it, and let them have there right to spin crap, then do the complete opposite. The modern day sport is about making money the IOC know that and have got on the bus to make money, and so should I or be left behind that's what ya seem to be saying jamesswm. I'm more the movie Ethan Hawke reality Bites, your more Micheal Douglas in the movie wall street lol
jameswm
Roar Guru
Do I think they should do it? Probably not. But if it helps fund the real Olympic sports, I can live with it. We all know the majors are the pinnacle for golf and tennis. Having those sports also brings some real star power to the Games. Who are the biggest sporting names in the world? Bolt, Djokovic and Federer, plus some footballers. Those sports mean you get more for the telecast rights, and mean the city hosting it suffers less of a loss. Those sports that bring in the $$$ help make hosting it more affordable. Hate to tell you Johno, but sport hasn't been amateur for a while now. Time to enter the 21st century buddy. Could other sports survive without the Olympics? Sure, but I have grown up with the Olympics being the ultimate for them. Why remove the Olympics - because you don't like their commercialism? You need to get over that. By the way - paragraphs are your friend.
Andy
Guest
Ohhhh!
Johnno
Guest
okay jameswm, so your cool with the IOC bringing in sports just for money making purposes, when the Olympics are not the pinnacle in those sports. Ha ha what an extraordinary thing to say I might ask you. And you seem to be cool with all this money making things the IOC do by bringing in sports just for money making purposes that go against all the traditional Olympic ideals, I think you should be looking at your own view on the Olympics, as you seem cool to be the Olympics being set up for a large part to be profitable $, by having mickey mouse events. So much for amateur ideals. And who says the athletics and swimming couldn't survive without the Olympics, they absolutely could in the modern world as more attention would be go to there world championships. Sport doesn't need the Olympics, get over it. Oh that's right I'm sure baseball is suffering not being in the olympics, as well as BMX bike riding being kicked out. Oh and now boxers can be pro and compete in olympics another nail in the coffin of the Olympics farcical ideals of amateurism and purity. More like commercialisation of the Olympics which your completely cool about.
jameswm
Roar Guru
Nah that isn't an Olympic credibility problem. Everyone can see that the Olympics isn't the pinnacle for golf, tennis or football, but they are brought in as popular sports to boost ratings. Athletics and swimming have their own World champs, but you are kidding yourself if you think they have even half the importance of an Olympics. What an extraordinary thing to say. Are the Olympics supposed to be the only comp on those sports? In Aths the World Champs are in odd years, with the Comm Games in the other even year.
Johnno
Guest
The olympic circus, beyond all the corruption, doping and dodgy judges(eg figure skating/diving/boxing), also has another credibility problem. It's no longer the pinnacle in so many sports. Golf what a joke lol, tennis, men's basketball it goes on and on. The new basketball world cup in 2019 will have 24-teams the IOC only allow 12, despite FIBA pleading to have 16-teams. Under-23's soccer lol, what a joke that is. Yet the IOC allow 3 overaged players to compete(for money making purposes to get the big stars there to). Under-23 half the problem is many of these players who qualify as under-23's have already been to 1 or 2 senior world cups. It's very contrived and pointless and under-23's tournament(plus 3 senior players). Athletics and swimming have there own world championships too.
spruce moose
Guest
Hear, hear James. The socio economic spread of athletes would actually be quite diverse instead of towards the wealthy. Ian Thorpe grew up in Milperra. Grant Hackett went to a state school on the gold coast. Cathy Freeman certainly wasn't one of the privilaged. In fact, most of Australia's successful swimmers had working class/middle class roots. Waggamick, you've based your argument on sailors, rowers and equestrian, which yes would undoubtedly be comprised of people from wealthier backgrounds. All the other sports are a broad church of Australian society.
spruce moose
Guest
How are you missing this? She continues to support WADA's position - which the IOC didn't adopt. The IOC did not take definitive action. WADA still implores the IOC to take definitive action. So by supporting WADA, she's clearly not supporting the IOC. Read the whole statement. Please.
andrew
Guest
What i read in that statement is she endorses WADA recommending the IOC take definitive action - which they clearly didn't do. No?
jameswm
Roar Guru
Wow. where do we start with something as ill-informed as this? 1. "Most of the competitors don’t reside or train in the “nation they represent’ " Let's start with athletics, my favourite. Australia has a woman in the 100, 200, 400, 800, 1500, 5km, 10km, 100H, 400H and steeple - for the first time I can remember. Of those, Gen La Caze went to college in the US, but I think is now with Bideau in Melbourne. Ella Nelson trains in either Sth Sydney or at Altis with Dan Pfaff in the USA. Mitchell, Rubie, Kajan, Hill, Jenneke, Wells etc all live and train in Australia I believe. Ditto Josh Clarke, Hartmann, Matthews, Riseley, Starc, Marschall, Peacock. Lapierre is also at Altis a lot of the time too I think. So 2 of our many athletes train overseas. 2. "a survey of the socio-economic spread of Australian Olympic competitors would show a heavy bias towards the leafier more well off suburbs of Australian major cities" Is there something wrong with living in a suburb with a lot of trees? In any case, in athletics all you need is a pair of shoes and a park of a track. It is hardly the type of sport where only the wealthy survive. That might apply to sailing or equestrian or to a lesser extent rowing, but not to swimming, basketball, football, boxing, cycling, hockey or weightlifting. Even rugby - look at the women's team, with mechanics, teaching students, farmers, some with strong league backgrounds. 3. "Sixteen days of what are predominantly pastimes" Do you have any concept of the training and competing involved in sports like football, rugby 7s, swimming, diving, athletics, basketball, cycling, gymnastics, rowing etc? The competitors are training every day, often twice a day. Or are you referring to the odd sport like table tennis or fencing? If you don't appreciate it, fine. But expect to be called out for ignorant drivel.
waggamick
Guest
Can't believe I'm hearing Australian Olympians whining about lack of sponsorship and the tax payer not giving them enough funds to finance their Peter Pan hobbies. The Olympics are an anachronism with World Championships held in every sport at least biannually. Most of the competitors don't reside or train in the "nation they represent' and a survey of the socio-economic spread of Australian Olympic competitors would show a heavy bias towards the leafier more well off suburbs of Australian major cities. Sixteen days of what are predominantly pastimes being boosted as a source of national pride is a farce of the highest order.
David Lord
Expert
Unfortunately, we don't always get what we deserve sheek. We deserved Jacques Rogge after two decades of corruption during the Juan Antonio Samaranch watch, those were dark days. It took the best part of Rogge's dozen years at the helm to clean up the IOC house, and it's taken Thomas Bach just three years to tear the clean Rogge house down. What makes Bach's gutless decision over Russia worse, he's the only IOC president in history to win an Olympic gold medal in the team foils representing West Germany at the 1976 Montreal Games. He should know better than anyone how vital it is to keep the Olympic Games clean. So why did he let Russia off the hook? He's magnified his mistake by not naming those Olympians who have subsequently failed drug tests from Beijing and London. He's banned them from Rio, but the only way to make a dent in drug cheats is to name and shame them So far Thomas Bach is batting zero in matters of import. Sack him. or lose sponsors, the lifeblood of the IOC.
AlanKC
Guest
spruce is right old mate, you've completely got hold of the wrong end of the stick in relation to her statememt.
AlanKC
Guest
Given Bach's well documented links to Putin and Russia, both in the business world and the sporting world, as well as his history as a sports lawyer working for Adidas and Horst Dassler, any outcme other than the one he's handed down woould have been unrealistic to expect. Just another example of world sports administration being compromised by the amount of money involved. It's doubtful, given the amount of politicing involved in getting to the top jobs, that anyone can get there and not owe "favours" that will be called in at some time in the future.
Nick
Roar Guru
She did no such thing Andrew. "The Australian Government notes the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) decision overnight and the Australian Olympic Committee’s (AOC) endorsement of it this morning." She noted it. Noting is quite a step back from supporting or endorsing a statement. She supports WADA's recommendations.
Nick
Roar Guru
Is Jacques Rogge your brother in law? Start answering some questions to your articles. Namely, why do you believe Rogge is such a dude? Answer. We deserve much better from you.
andrew
Guest
While we are sacking people, the Minster for Sport of Australia, Sussan Ley should be removed of her title also. Her response is baffling and shows no understanding of sport or the details of this situation. She supported the IOC stance and decision and then went on to say; ..."the Australian Government continues to strongly support WADA’s recommendations that the IOC, International Paralympic Committee (IPC) and International Sporting Federations each take definitive action within their respective powers to decline entries of all athletes submitted by the Russian Olympic and Paralympic Committees." http://sussanley.com/australias-response-to-ioc-russia-decision/ The IOC didn't take definitive action, yet she says she supports their decision. They had the power to ban the Russian team and didn't.