Russia and its detractors found some rare common ground regarding the doping scandal that has engulfed the Olympics and the international sports world for the past six years.
The Russians portrayed Thursday's decision to reduce their penalties at the Olympics and other major events from four to two years as a victory.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) did, indeed, conclude that Russia did everything it was accused of – violations that prompted the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to hand down the initial four-year penalty after its investigations wrapped up last December.
The highest court in international sports, however, did not release its entire 186-page decision that would have shed light on its reasons for cutting the sanction in half. It offered a statement from the arbitrators who said they “considered matters of proportionality and, in particular, the need to effect cultural change and encourage the next generation of Russian athletes to participate in clean international sport.”
Leaders of the Olympic movement have been hoping for a “cultural change” in the Russian sports system for years now, but any sense that it was occurring suffered a massive setback in the incident that led to the case that the CAS considered.
It centered around Russia's promise to give WADA access to more than 23 million megabytes of digital files that would help detail and prosecute some of the doping violations that stemmed from the country's widespread cheating scheme that began early in the 2010s.
When WADA finally got access to the files – in January 2019, long after many of the reforms and institutional cleanup were supposedly well underway – it found that Russian authorities were busy right up to the deadline scrubbing and altering those files.
WADA's four-year sanction was less draconian than it could have been but still booted most Russian dignitaries along with the country's flag, though not all its athletes, from the Olympics.
Russia appealed and the CAS responded by cutting the length of the sanction in half, a period that will still include the Tokyo and Beijing Olympics, while loosening some of the key restrictions. For instance, Russian government officials, all the way up to President Vladimir Putin, cannot be banned from an event if they've been invited by a leader of a host country. In addition, no one can prevent Russian flags from flying in the stands.
The CAS glossed over a robust vetting system that was to be used to figure out which athletes can be deemed clean and, thus, allowed to participate. Plus, the nation's participants who are allowed in the games will have “Russia” on their uniforms.
"The outcome today is a victory for Russia. CAS did not restrict clean athletes' right to compete at the Olympic and Paralympic Games, as well as at world championships," Mikhail Bukhanov, interim head of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA), was quoted as saying by Reuters.
WADA played both sides. President Witold Banka said the agency “is pleased to have won this landmark case,” but also that WADA was “disappointed that the CAS Panel did not endorse each and every one of our recommended consequences for the four-year period we requested.”
While Russia mostly celebrated the two-year sanction handed down by the CAS, others labeled the decision a watered-down miscarriage of justice that falls far short of making the country account for its transgressions.
'Devastating decision'
U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who played a key role in exposing cycling's Lance Armstrong doping scandal, called it a "devastating decision."
"At this stage in this sordid Russian state-sponsored doping affair, now spanning close to a decade, there is no consolation in this weak, watered-down outcome," Tygart said.
He called it "a catastrophic blow to clean athletes, the integrity of sport and the rule of law" and, in an interview with Agence France-Presse (AFP), said the ruling was a "tragedy" for the global fight against drug cheats.
"In addition to many other loopholes, this decision expressly gives IOC (International Olympic Committee) members from Russia special treatment and exempts them from any consequence for their bad acts that robbed sport and clean athletes."
The Global Athlete and The Athletics Association called the ruling “a farcical facade.”
"The decision taken by the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS), released today, has dealt yet another damaging blow to clean sport and the athlete community. Through a series of recommendations that include reducing the 4-yr mandatory sanction imposed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), to 2-yrs, CAS has diluted and weakened an already compromised sanction – demonstrating once again they are unfit for purpose,” said the association in a statement published on Twitter.
"The fact that Russian athletes can compete as 'Neutral Athletes from Russia' is another farcical facade that makes a mockery of the system. If athletes from Russia can still compete, it is not a sanction. Russia has not been banned; they have simply been rebranded."
Paralympian Ali Jawad said calling the sanction a “ban” is an inaccurate portrayal of the CAS decision, given that Russian athletes and Russian dignitaries, including the country's IOC members, will still be allowed at the Olympics.
“If that was an athlete breaking the rules the way Russia did, it would be a lifetime ban, easily,” Jawad said, according to The Associated Press (AP).
"I’ve always been hesitant for calls for an alternative AD (anti-doping) system. I’ve always believed in helping create a strong WADA. But the events of the last five years, the lack of athlete voices, and the constant compromise with Russia has made me realize that WADA is not fit for purpose."
