Bach asks for support in Russia decision

Olympics chief Thomas Bach called for a complete overhaul of the global anti-doping system on Tuesday after revelations of state-backed cheating by Russian Federation rocked preparations for the Rio Games.

But speaking at the opening session of an International Olympic Committee meeting, Bach said: “The findings in the McLaren report are very serious, in particular with regards to a system of doping allegedly orchestrated by the Russian ministry of sport”.

Several anti-doping bodies, including the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) as well as those from the United States, Canada and Germany, among others, had called on the International Olympic Committee to implement a blanket ban on all Russian athletes.

So far, all Russian weightlifting and track and field athletes have been barred, though some are appealing their disqualification to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. “The IOC is calling for a more robust and efficient anti-doping system”.

“While it is destabilising in the lead-up to the Games, it is obvious, given the seriousness of the revelations that (McLaren) uncovered, that they had to be published and acted upon without delay”, WADA president Craig Reedie said.

IOC President Thomas Bach on Sunday defended the committee’s decision not to ban Russia’s entire Olympic team and said the country’s doping scandal will not damage the credibility of the Rio de Janeiro.

“The decision has been made, it’s not going to get changed between now and the start of the Games”, the former Olympic swimmer explained before listing the concessions he believed had been gained from the IOC.

Bach said a blanket ban, which he called the “nuclear option” at the Olympic summit on Tuesday, would have brought “death and devastation”.

The WADA press conference had been due to take place at the Main Press Centre in the Olympic Park at 1530 local time on Thursday, a day before the Games’ opening ceremony. “This is not what the Olympic movement stands for”, Bach told delegates who voted overwhelming.

The split between Olympic leaders and global anti-doping officials over the Russian doping scandal continues to deepen.

The IOC president had complained about the timing of a bombshell report into Russia’s doping conspiracy and suggested that the agency had overlooked information provided to it more than two years ago.

Bach’s condemnation of WADA escalates a feud between the Olympics and anti-doping bodies which has broken out in the final days before the Rio Games.

But Argentine member Gerardo Werthein said it was WADA that had failed, saying the organisation was more interested in self-promotion.

“The IOC has no authority over the testing program of athletes outside the Olympic Games”.

“We need to do a lot more to show that we really do care about fair play, honest competition and clean athletes”, he said.

By the end, however, Pound was among the 84 members who voted in favor.

An investigation by Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren which revealed state-organised doping in Russian Federation, has overshadowed the buildup to the Rio Games which start Friday.

CAS said it would announce later whether more hearings would be needed in the case of swimmers Vladimir Morozov and Nikita Lobintsev. That decision has been heavily criticised because athletes from other countries who have served a ban, such as Justin Gatlin, are eligible to compete.