WADA rejects appeals from Russia | Golden Skate

WADA rejects appeals from Russia

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nimi

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Apr 7, 2014
Damn. I haven't been following this WADA saga very closely and I was just assuming that things were moving towards some sort of agreement/compromise because the Olys are approaching but I guess not. *sigh*

Let's see... Some background from NYT https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/10/sports/olympics/russia-doping-winter-olympics.html
The agency said that its investigations department had been in possession since late October of an electronic file that was long considered a final piece of the puzzle revealing the contours of the doping system. The agency said in a news release that it was confident that the file contained “all testing data” from January 2012 to August 2015 — thousands of drug screenings run on Russian athletes.

The antidoping regulator seized the opportunity on Friday to restate another request: that Russia accept the findings of Mr. McLaren’s inquiry, which confirmed that top government officials and Russia’s Federal Security Service had helped with coordinated cheating.

From Guardian (https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/nov/10/wada-mclaren-russia-doping)
In statement Wada confirmed that by cross-referencing the new intelligence with the McLaren investigation’s findings in June and December 2016, it had “reinforced” its evidence base.

“Wada continues to stand firmly behind the outcomes of the agency’s independent McLaren investigation,” said Wada president Craig Reedie. “This new intelligence serves to reinforce our requirement of Russian authorities that they too publicly accept the outcomes; so that, we can all move forward in rebuilding public trust and confidence in Russian sport.”

The latest revelation comes only days after an internal Russian investigation blamed Grigory Rodchenkov, the former Moscow Laboratory director who turned whistleblower, for its doping problems. Russia has always denied state-sponsored doping.

And from Reuters (https://www.reuters.com/article/us-...g-could-block-olympic-path-wada-idUSKBN1DA2ZO)
Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested on Thursday that allegations of a state-sponsored doping program were an attempt to sow discontent ahead of the country’s presidential elections and retaliation for alleged Russian meddling in the U.S. election.

(...)

”It is certainly unfortunate that we keep having this kind of rhetoric despite all the evidence that is now on the table,“ said Niggli. ”We’ve told the Russians the requirement is there for them to acknowledge the findings of the McLaren report.

“I honestly don’t understand why rather than accepting what happened and saying it and change things and move forward and they have done a lot of good work, they have a problem doing the last part.”

So basically, the "deny everything and insist it's a conspiracy" approach to WADA's allegations isn't working that great ATM...

I hope Russia & WADA will reach some sort of agreement and all the clean athletes get to compete but this is worrying... :slink:
 

Ares

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Feb 22, 2016
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Most took the participation of Russian figure skaters in Pyeong Chang for granted. We'll see how it turns out.:slink:
 

Mattieu

Medalist
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Dec 22, 2010
Thomas Bach says WADA's decision is totally separate from the IOC's decision on whether Russia will take part in the Olympics.
He says Russia may still go even though RUSADA is not restored.
He says to wait until the beginning of December when the IOC will decide.
So it is not over yet!
 

Sam-Skwantch

“I solemnly swear I’m up to no good”
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Which is funny because there are several members of WADA who are members of IOC!!

IOC >>>>> WADA
 

nimi

Medalist
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Apr 7, 2014
Thomas Bach says WADA's decision is totally separate from the IOC's decision on whether Russia will take part in the Olympics.
Yeah that's a good point. Browsing through various news outlets & commentators on the subject, many seems to think that even if IOC does take action, most likely will it not issue a blanket ban. (Like it didn't issue a blanket ban heading to Rio, leaving it up to the various federations instead.)
 

russianfan

Match Penalty
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Feb 4, 2017
funny approach: "we don't have real proofs, but you should agree with any bs mclaren brings"
 

Kittosuni

Medalist
Joined
Nov 2, 2012
Unless WADA can produce an irrefutable evidence I dont see the Russian being completely banned from the Olympics.

But also don't expect USADA's Tygart to back down. He doesnt even bother hinding his frustrations when things dont go their way like when Sotnikova's case was dismissed.

Im pretty sure we will not see the Russians marching in the opening ceremony and expect boycotts from western athletes in the medal ceremonies if there's a Russian athlete.

There will be a lot of tensions so we will see how IOC/Korea will handle this one. Even though there are a lot of Yuna fanatics, I don't see the Korean crowd being hostile towards the Russian. It will most likely come from western audience.

If you don't have twitter, better create one now and follow Wagner, Duhamel, Jackie and TSL because its going to be drama galore!
 

dante

a dark lord
Final Flight
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It doesn't look good that Russia refuses to hand over the sealed doping tests to WADA.

I see two reasons for this. First, there is no court that would gather evidences and proofs from both sides, there is only an interested commission that would simply find an excuse to disregard any Russia's proof, so there is no point in cooperating in the first place.

Second, as far as I know, in Anglo-American law the party of prosecution has broad powers to demand any material evidences from the defendant, while in Continental law (which includes the Russian legal system) the defendant can deny these requests as a potential evidence against himself. So each of us follows his own understanding of the investigative process.
 

CanadianSkaterGuy

Record Breaker
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Jan 25, 2013
It doesn't look good that Russia refuses to hand over the sealed doping tests to WADA.

Well certain Presidents don't hand in their taxes... and you wonder that they have to hide. :popcorn:

I hope the Russian athletes can compete, but if there was deliberate tampering of tests in an effort to bolster Russian athletes then there needs to be consequences. It sucks for athletes who actually are playing fair but a shady federation will continue to be unless they get their hands rapped or face some sort of repercussions for past transgressions.
 

macy

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Nov 12, 2011
can you imagine how differently results would be not just in skating but in likely many other sports if Russia didn't compete? crazy to think about. probably all 3 podium spots would be up in the air.
 

Barb

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Oct 13, 2009
Thomas Bach says WADA's decision is totally separate from the IOC's decision on whether Russia will take part in the Olympics.
He says Russia may still go even though RUSADA is not restored.
He says to wait until the beginning of December when the IOC will decide.
So it is not over yet!

It seems disrespectful to make this kind of decision just two months before the games. Why not better they decide it at the airport when the athletes are waiting for their flight to Korea in February? :sarcasm: :rolleye:
 

silverfoxes

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 16, 2014
can you imagine how differently results would be not just in skating but in likely many other sports if Russia didn't compete? crazy to think about. probably all 3 podium spots would be up in the air.

I would not bother watching, honestly. It would just prove what a political farce the Olys really are. Maybe there can be some kind of alternative competition if it comes to that. Didn't they do that for the paralympians?
 
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