Russian doping ‘a fundamental attack on the integrity of the Olympic Games’, say the IOC

The McLaren report stated that Russian athletes said had "corrupted the London Olympic Games in 2012 on an unprecedented scale".

Russian doping ‘a fundamental attack on the integrity of the Olympic Games’, say the IOC

The International Olympic Committee has described the extent of the state-sponsored doping in Russia revealed by the second report by Richard McLaren as an attack on the integrity of the Olympics.

McLaren's report states that more than 1,000 Russian athletes in 30 Olympic and Paralympic sports were involved in a state-sponsored doping cover-up, which the Canadian law professor said had "corrupted the London Olympic Games in 2012 on an unprecedented scale".

In a statement, the IOC said: "The IOC thanks Prof. McLaren and his team for the completed Independent Person (IP) Report and acknowledges the evidence produced. The detailed findings show that there was a fundamental attack on the integrity of the Olympic Games and on sport in general."

As sports federations across the world digested the findings, UK Anti-Doping chiefs said it showed that more money needed to be available to fund future investigations in order to foil the cheats.

UKAD chief executive Nicole Sapstead said: "Today's report from Richard McLaren is hugely significant for sport and those who fight to keep it clean.

"Everyone engaged in sport needs to ensure that the right processes, sanctions and safeguards are in place to protect everyone's right to clean, fair and honest sport.

"Both the McLaren and Pound reports have demonstrated the importance of investigations. They have also highlighted that such investigations take time and require a great deal of financial investment.

"It is clear that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the national anti-doping organisations around the world must be given the powers and resources they need to carry out investigations.

"In a landscape where anti-doping is woefully underfunded, more money needs to be found to support investigations. The sports, many of which receive considerable income from commercial activities, need to step up and help anti-doping organisations. 2016 has also shown that whilst athletes are held to account under the World Anti-Doping Code every day of the year, when it comes to a country demonstrating a disregard for the rules, the same sort of sanctions do not apply.

"WADA needs support and the ability to apply the right sanctions so that this type of situation cannot happen again. The rules and consequences should be clear whether it's for a country, an international federation or an athlete."

The International Paralympic Committee described the revelations in the second part of McLaren's report as "unprecedented and astonishing".

The IPC went one step further than the International Olympic Committee in August when it issued a blanket ban on Russian athletes competing at the 2016 Paralympics in Rio.

In a statement the IPC said: "The full findings of the report are unprecedented and astonishing. They strike right at the heart of the integrity and ethics of sport.

"We wholeheartedly agree with Professor McLaren that the best course of action is to work together to fix the broken and compromised anti-doping system in Russia.

"The recently appointed IPC Taskforce looks forward to working closely with our member the Russian Paralympic Committee to do just that."

World athletics' governing body the IAAF said it had been working closely with McLaren's team and said the report's findings will help it develop a more intelligence-based retesting strategy on samples going back to 2007.

In a statement the IAAF said: "The IAAF has been working in close co-operation with Prof McLaren's team and WADA and continues to do so.

"Based on the individual athletes that Prof McLaren's team have shared with us, over half (53 per cent) of the elite athletes have already been sanctioned or are currently undergoing disciplinary proceedings. We will follow up on the rest as soon as the evidence from the IP's investigation is made available to us via WADA.

"The IAAF has a history of comprehensive testing and a strong retesting strategy with samples stored back to 2007. This has allowed us, using information shared by the McLaren team, to pursue an even more specific, intelligence-based retesting programme.

"Russian samples from IAAF World Championships up to and including Moscow 2013 have been, or are in the process of being, reanalysed. At this stage three further samples from Osaka 2007 have been reported as Adverse Analytical Findings and results from Daegu 2011 are due next week."

The British Bobsleigh and Skeleton Association has confirmed it is considering a boycott of next year's World Championships in Sochi after a report which "has done nothing to dampen our previous concerns".

Olympic skeleton champion Lizzy Yarnold theatened to pull out of the event last month over Russian doping improprieties and the BBSA says the report proves its athletes did not compete on an "equal footing" at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Great Britain's four-man bobsleigh team piloted by John Jackson finished in fifth place in Sochi, behind two Russian crews.

In a statement the BBSA said: "We trust that our international federation, the International Bobsleigh & Skeleton Federation (IBSF), will take a strong stance to protect clean sport and act accordingly. We await the further detail from them and will then take a decision regarding our involvement in the Sochi World Championships."

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