On Tuesday, the International Olympic Committee announced its decision regarding Russia for its role in a case of systematic doping alleged to be so severe it is without precedent in Olympics history. The punishment was equally severe: In addition to barring Russia’s Olympic team from the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, the IOC ordered Russia to pay $15m in costs.
Professor Peter Donnelly of the Faculty of Kinesiology and Physical Education has been following this story closely and offered his perspective on the unfolding events. Donnelly is director of the U of T Centre for Sport Policy Studies and specializes in research on sport policy and politics, sport subcultures and sport and social inequality.
Are you surprised by the ruling, the harshest yet in Olympics history?
No. I think this is a sound, well-considered ruling. A great many agencies, including the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (Canada’s anti-doping agency) had been calling for a blanket ban on Russia and Russian athletes. The IOC, after hearing a great deal of evidence, decided just to punish the guilty, and those most likely to have been guilty of violating doping protocols at the Sochi Olympics in 2014. Collective punishment is always unjust, and would likely have provoked a severe reaction in Russia. So, for example, to exclude Russia’s curling team from PyeongChang, a sport that has no history of or even reason for doping (along with all the other Russian athletes who had never tested positive in international testing protocols) would have been an injustice. As it is, any of the athletes who are approved to compete are designated as Olympic Athletes from Russia (OAR); they will not be permitted to wear Russian uniforms, and if they win a medal, there will be no Russian flag or Russian anthem played.
How do you expect Russia will respond?
Russia has been threatening major consequences and boycotts if the Olympic team was banned, or if they were not allowed to compete as part of a Russian team. I suspect that there has been a great deal of back room diplomacy involved in crafting these sanctions, and one in particular opens a door to Russian compliance with the sanctions: “The IOC may partially or fully lift the suspension of the ROC from the commencement of the Closing Ceremony of the Olympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 provided these decisions are fully respected and implemented by the ROC [Russian Olympic Committee] and by the invited athletes and officials.” In other words, if Russia complies with the sanctions, and pays the $15 million fine, they may be allowed to appear as Russia (uniforms and flags) at the Closing Ceremonies. I suspect that this piece of diplomacy may have been negotiated with the Russians in order to ensure compliance.
How do you feel about the winter Olympics without Russia?
Well, recognizing that Russia will be there in most ways (except in the medal table), I think this is not unreasonable. The evidently state sponsored doping programme leading up to Sochi was both arrogant and clumsy, and it is good to see that the IOC is taking responsibility for determining the sanctions and identifying who may compete, rather than downloading that decision to the sport federations as they did in Rio.
What consequences could Tuesday’s decision have for the World Cup in Russia? (The IOC also handed a lifetime ban to Russia’s deputy Prime Minister, Vitaly Mutko, former sports minister and 2018 World Cup chief.)
Good question! I’m not sure if that has been part of any of the IOC negotiations, and FIFA has certainly been keeping a low profile around this decision. It’s possible that Russia could use the World Cup to retaliate in some ways; for example, by banning the US soccer federation from attending the World Cup (there is no US team in the 2018 World Cup). It will certainly be interesting to see how this plays out, both for PyeongChang and for the World Cup.