World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and one of the main punishers of Russian sports, Richard Pound went berserk over the doping case of our figure skater Kamila Valieva. And he harshly criticized the actions of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), of which he is a member.
Background to the Valieva case The scandal at the Beijing Olympics over the positive doping test of Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva remains a leading topic in the world media. And it's been almost a year and a half now. Recall that Valieva was part of the Russian team that took the gold medals of the team tournament in China, but it soon became known that the doping test of the athlete on December 25, 2021 gave a positive result.
Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) allowed her to a personal tournament, but the young skater got nervous and took only fourth place. The IOC decided to announce the results of the competition with the participation of Valieva as preliminary, and the award ceremony for the winners of the Olympic team tournament was postponed until the end of the investigation. In the summer of 2023, there is still no clarity.
Although the attacks on the Russian woman are regular. In February, WADA filed an appeal with CAS against a Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) verdict confirming an anti-doping rule violation but noting that there was «no fault or negligence». WADA insisted on a four-year disqualification, as well as the annulment of Valieva's results. The IOC immediately got hooked on WADA's idea to refer the case to CAS. The organization is confident that its quick consideration is in the interests of athletes who still cannot receive medals in the team tournament of the 2022 Games.
What Pound wanted to say: Pound, the same gravedigger of Russian sports, went on the attack on Valieva. He led WADA from 1999 to 2007, and has been a member of the IOC since 1978, being the longest member of the organization. In 2001, he even ran for the presidency of the IOC, but lost his seat to Belgian Jacques Rogge.
But in Russia, Pound is, of course, better known as the head of the commission that published a report in 2015 on doping use in Russian athletics. It was on the basis of his report that RUSADA was recognized as not complying with the WADA code and the All-Russian Athletics Federation was deprived of membership in the international association. Along with Richard McLaren, they are the main punishers of our sport. And now Pound has decided to speak out on the Valieva case.
“No one is happy with the reaction of the IOC. In fact, the Russians showed the middle finger. The IOC cannot control what they say, but we are not going to give out Olympic medals until we know who really won,” Pound was quoted by Sports Business Journal .
A strange reaction, given that the IOC supported the WADA initiative to disqualify Valieva for four years if the CAS case is successful. Honored coach of the USSR Tatyana Tarasova did not like Pound's answer.
«I think that in relation to a girl and a very talented child one could pick up some other words,» said Tatyana Anatolyevna.
Commentator Dmitry Guberniev was more cautious in his assessments, while expressing confidence in the «purity» of Valieva and the victory of our team in the team tournament at the Beijing Olympics. . Pound, on the other hand, at some moments even supported us, and at other times openly buried us. There are authorities that make decisions, they will sort everything out. Richard, on the other hand, as a member of the IOC, who once ran for the presidency, has remained well connected and is trying to exert pressure. But even without him, everything will be decided. For me, Kamila Valieva remains a pure athlete who has become a victim of circumstances. I can say that our team honestly won the Olympics, this is an indisputable fact,» Guberniev said.
However, we can agree with Pound that the Valieva case really dragged on. It is clear that there are complex nuances anyway, otherwise the Russian woman would have been disqualified long ago, and our skaters would have their gold medals taken away. Nevertheless, I would like to have some specifics, because the expectation is sometimes more depressing than the sentence.