Moral Victory: Russian Athletes Vindicated by International Court of Arbitration, IOC Discredited
A very important moral victory in our sport. On Thursday, the International Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne recognized the position of the International Olympic Committee against 39 of our Olympians as unfair and abolished their lifetime disqualification. Each case was considered individually, the lawsuit in Switzerland was controversial, with the participation of both the athletes and their lawyers and prosecutors from the IOC. Personally, even McLaren and Rodchenkov, the same one whom Putin called an imbecile on Tuesday, were heard.
So, in the overwhelming number of cases, their arguments weren’t convincing. In our opinion, it's just a fake. A fundamental point. By a unanimous decision of the court, a good name of 28 Russian Olympians was fully restored, Sochi medals are obliged to be given back. Thus, Russia also regains its leadership in the Sochi Olympics in the medal standings.
Based on the judicial decision, the Russian Olympic Committee submitted a request to the IOC immediately on Thursday about the participation of our justified athletes in the South Korean Games because they can’t go there without the invitation of the IOC even after the court's decision.
And today in Pyeongchang, the President of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach from Germany, gave a press conference.
Thomas Bach: "This decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport was extremely disappointing and, at the same time, surprised the IOC, we didn’t expect this".
At the same time, Bach simply called for the reform of the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, because the quality of its verdicts didn’t suit the IOC, especially with regard to Russian athletes.
He also stated the following: "As for Russian athletes, we made it quite clear that lifting the sanctions by the Court of Arbitration for Sport doesn’t mean that the athlete receives an invitation from the IOC automatically. The invitation is a privilege of clean Russian athletes".
It’s clear that these positions aroused indignation in Moscow. That’s what was said by Valentina Matvienko, head of the Federation Council, and, I’ll clarify, the third person in the state.
Valentina Matvienko: "Any democratic system assumes the existence of an independent judiciary system. Of course, if any structure wants to be considered democratic, it must strictly follow the decisions of the independent judiciary authorities. Of course, one can reason that it’s necessary to reform the Court of Arbitration for Sport, especially after its decision didn’t satisfy the IOC. But then, it’s quite natural to think about reforming both WADA, World Anti-Doping Agency, and the International Olympic Committee, in particular, for the inability to act within the framework of democratic procedures.
After all, this is a clear sign of degeneration of the original meaning of the Olympic movement, the Olympic spirit of these international organizations. In my opinion, there’s one more and the most serious problem. They commercialized international sports, the Olympic movement. In a certain sense, I’d say, they turned it into a business, prioritizing profit and not the athletes. Is this the right thing? Maybe it's worth looking into the Olympic Charter? I’ll certainly discuss these issues with colleagues, heads of parliaments of other countries, on international parliamentary platforms.
As for the decision of the CAS on Russian athletes, we don’t know these people in the Court of Arbitration for Sport, but I believe that we should be grateful for the fact that, despite the hard pressure, they found the courage to be guided in their decision by objective data and principles of the Olympic Movement. I’m absolutely sure that the principles of the Olympic movement, laid by Pierre de Coubertin, are alive and will definitely win in the end".
Anyway, the moral victory of our athletes is obvious for today, even if it’s difficult for someone abroad to digest it.