IOC, Russia in battle of the ban

BECAUSE MAJOR League Baseball, the NBA, NFL, NHL and the NCAA do not fall under the jurisdiction of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the international quasi-judicial body rarely crosses the consciousness of the American sports fan.

On Thursday, however, the CAS will render a verdict that will have major ramifications on the biggest sporting event on the planet - the 2016 Summer Olympics.

In June the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) banned track and field athletes from Russia from competing in the Olympics next month in Rio de Janeiro because of an alleged state-sponsored doping scandal.

Russia appealed to the CAS and a verdict is expected to be announced on Thursday.

This will be a critical decision because the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) called on Monday for all Russian athletes to be banned from the Olympics because of claims from a Russian whistleblower that the government ordered sports agencies to cheat at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

In May, Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov, the former director of Russia's anti-doping lab, gave a blockbuster interview to the New York Times in which he claimed he was ordered by the government to cover up the use of performance-enhancing drugs by Russian athletes and that Russia's version of the CIA assisted in the cover up.

After an investigation, WADA took the extraordinary step of asking that Russia be banned.

Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren, who was retained by WADA to investigate, submitted a 100-page report alleging proof that a state-run doping program was operated by the Russian government before, during and after the Sochi Games.

The report alleged there was evidence dating back to 2011 that Russian athletes were given illegal PEDs and that officials routinely covered up incriminating urine samples.

McLaren based his findings on interviews, forensic evidence and emails recovered from computer hard drives.

The report alleged that Evgeny Blokhin, a member of the Russian intelligence service, had access to the drug-testing lab in Sochi and played a key role in swapping out positive urine samples.

Only the International Olympic Committee has the authority to ban an entire national delegation, and in a statement it called the findings of the WADA report an "unprecedented attack on the integrity of sport."

On Tuesday, the IOC banned officials from the Russian Sports Ministry and other administrators alleged to have taken part in the doping program. It also said it would deliver "the toughest possible sanctions available against any individual or organization implicated."

It is being reported that the IOC is being heavily petitioned by antidoping agencies and athletes to deliver strong sanctions against Russia.

After an emergency meeting on Tuesday, the IOC said it was looking into legal options and had appointed a five-person disciplinary committee, but announced no decision on banning athletes.

It's possible the IOC would allow the 28 international federations to individually decide if Russian athletes can compete in the sports they govern. But, basically, Russia needs a favorable decision from the CAS on its appeal against the IAAF's track and field ban.

If that happens, it is unlikely the IOC would ban all Russian athletes.

This is serious stuff.

More than 400 Russian athletes could have their Olympic dreams shattered if the IOC kicks the country out of the Games.

The Russian Olympic Committee is calling for individual bans for PED users.

"We completely disagree that a possible suspension of hundreds of clean Russian athletes from the Olympic Games is an acceptable 'unpleasant consequence' of the allegations presented," the Russian committee said in a statement. "The Russian Olympic Committee fully supports the application of toughest measures against those who use banned substances or promote their use.

"At the same time, the Russian Olympic Committee will always defend the rights of clean athletes."

That would be ideal if this were a normal situation. This is way beyond that.

If the WADA investigation is to be believed, there is no credible way to determine which Russians are clean and which are not.

Identifying guilty athletes in a state-sponsored conspiracy that involves the active participation by a Russian intelligence agency would be nearly impossible.

This is government classified-level stuff handled by professional "cleaners and fixers."

Had Rodchenkov not stepped forward, it is likely none of this would have ever come to light.

The Olympic testing labs were under Russian influence for the Sochi Games. Obviously, that is not the case for Rio. Any clandestine doping by Russian athletes leading up to next month's Games would have been halted well before it could be detected.

Now it's the age-old dilemma of whether it is better to let 10 guilty parties go free rather than have one innocent person be wrongly convicted and punished.

If the Court of Arbitration for Sport decides that is the case and rules against the IAAF in the appeal lodged on behalf of Russian track and field athletes, it is likely the IOC would not ban all Russian athletes.

If the opposite happens, there is a good chance that Russia won't compete in an Olympics until the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

@SmallTerp