International Olympic Committee sets up panel to choose Russian team for Rio Olympics

WADA came in for criticism from International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach on Sunday for failing to act more quickly on evidence of widespread doping in Russian Federation provided by whistleblower Yuliya Stepanova.

The IOC and the World Anti-Doping Agency clashed again Tuesday over the allegations of state-sponsored doping in Russian Federation that have rattled the Olympic movement and created chaos ahead of Friday’s opening ceremony in Rio. Bach and many members pointed fingers at WADA for failing to act sooner on evidence of state-run doping in Russian Federation and for releasing its findings so close to the start of the games.

International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams said Reedie’s positon was not compromised by the debate. “And this is for very obvious reasons”.

The turmoil centers on the Russian contingent and hurried deliberations over which of its athletes should be allowed to compete when the Games begin on Friday.

“With the case of Stepanova we had to take a very hard decision like with the participation of any Russian athlete”, Bach said.

“The decisions have been very unpopular in a number of countries and it’s hard for International Olympic Committee members to explain why this particular option was taken”, he said.

” Given current events, we believed that our press conference – which was to focus on WADA’s Independent Observer and Athlete Outreach programs – would be overshadowed by other matters”, he said.

The IOC adopted a three-step procedure in the wake of the World Anti-Doping Agency McLaren report, which recommended a blanket ban for the Russian team ahead of the Rio Games, after providing evidence of a four-year Russian doping programme across the majority of Olympic sports.

Four others were named in the report by Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren for the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) which exposed widespread state-sponsored doping in Russian Federation.

“Pound complained that, before the executive board’s decision, rank-and-file International Olympic Committee members “‘were not asked for our opinion and had no chance to give it”. After a debate lasting more than two hours, Bach asked for a show of hands, and only one of the 85 members – Britain’s Adam Pengilly – voted against his position.

“No”, he snapped, when asked whether the doping affair had damaged the IOC’s reputation.

“Therefore, the IOC can not be made responsible, neither for the timing nor for the reasons of these incidents we have to face now, and which we are addressing and have to address just a couple of days before the Olympic Games”.

“Leaving aside that such a comparison is completely out of any proportion when it comes to the rules of sport, let us just for a moment consider the consequences of a “nuclear option, ‘” Bach said. Their cases will go directly to the CAS which will take independently all the necessary measures”, said Bach. “It’s an attack on the Olympic Games and it’s an attack on our values”. These are complicated and complex questions on the legal and moral side.

‘No, I haven’t been talking to any Russian government officials since the publication of the McLaren Report, ‘ he insisted.

“It was not easy”, he said. “The executive board made it really clear that it appreciates the contribution of Yulia Stepanova in the fight against doping”.

He did say there would be 4,500 urine tests and 1,000 blood tests conducted during the Rio Games. More re-testing is expected to continue throughout and after the Rio Games. The preparations have been clouded across multiple fronts, including a severe recession leading to Olympic budget cuts, concerns over water pollution, crime and the Zika virus, and problems with accommodations in the athletes’ village.