The IOC’s decision to ban the Russian flag and anthem from the Winter Olympics is grossly discriminatory and makes no legal or moral sense
by Alexander Mercouris (cross-posted with Russia Feed by special agreement with the author)
In the first half of 2016, shortly before the Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Professor Richard McLaren at the request of WADA published his preliminary report on sports doping in Russia.
No one – least of all the Russian authorities – disputed that there had been a significant problem with doping in Russia. The Russian authorities moreover singled out the person who they said was the prime suspect – Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov – the head of RUSADA, Russia’s principal WADA affiliated anti-doping laboratory.
Rodchenkov had come under suspicion of involvement in doping before. Though he had previously been cleared of involvement in doping, after the Winter Olympics in 2014 in Sochi in Russia he fell under suspicion again. He fled abroad to the United States, where he is now the subject of a witness protection programme.
Though Rodchenkov’s deep involvement in the doping which had taken place in Russian sport was universally accepted, Professor McLaren nonetheless made him his star witness.
On Rodchenkov’s evidence and without first consulting with the Russian authorities McLaren declared that the doping amongst Russian athletes which had taken place during the Sochi Olympics was the result of a massive state sponsored conspiracy organised by the Russian government and carried out by Rodchenkov in collaboration with the FSB. McLaren moreover said that this had been proved “beyond reasonable doubt”.
To that end, reversing the burden of proof, McLaren campaigned for all Russian athletes to be prevented from participating in the Rio Olympics irrespective of whether there was actual evidence against them of doping or not.
In the event, though several sports federations including crucially the International Association of Athletics Federations (“IAAF”) did prevent Russian athletes affiliated to them from participating in the Rio Olympics, the International Olympic Committee refused to impose a blanket ban.
The International Paralympic Committee on the strength of McLaren’s report however did so, preventing Russian paralympic athletes from participating in the Paralympic Games in Rio.
A few months later, after the Rio Olympics were over, Professor McLaren published the complete version of his report.
This broke no new ground and made the same allegations that his preliminary report had made before.
The International Olympic Committee on the eve of the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang has now gone a step further.
It has banned Russian athletes from competing in the Winter Olympics under their own flag, is preventing them from participating in the Opening Ceremony, and has prohibited the playing of the Russian national anthem if they win gold medals.
Instead selected Russian athletes may attend the Winter Olympics but only if invited by the International Olympic Committee to do so, and can only compete as ‘athletes from Russia’ under the Olympic flag.
In addition a number of Russian sports officials including the former Minister of Sport Vitaly Mutko are banned for life from any involvement in the Olympic Games, whilst the Russian Olympic Committee – one of the founder Committees of the Olympic Movement – has had its membership suspended.
What are the grounds for this extraordinary set of decisions? I ask this question because from a legal and sports point of view I do not understand them.
As I have always understood it, the Olympic Movement seeks to be inclusive and non-discriminatory. Whilst it is obviously right and proper to ban athletes from participating in the Olympic Games if they have been found guilty of drugs taking, surely if they have not been found guilty of drugs taking they should compete in the Games under their own flag on the same terms as everyone else?
If the Russian Olympic Committee is to be suspended surely that should be because its members have been found guilty of something?
If Russian government officials like Vitaly Mutko are to be banned from the Olympic Movement for life, then that too should be because they have been found to be guilty of something?
I ask these questions because the decision of the International Olympic Committee purports to be based on an independent investigation of the claims made by Professor McLaren in his two reports carried out by former Swiss President and Federal Council member Samuel Schmid.
Schmid’s report however not only fails to support the allegations of a gigantic government organised doping conspiracy in Russia, but it actually confirms that there is no evidence of such a conspiracy in Russia. Moreover it also confirms that there is no evidence of any wrongdoing either by the Russian Olympic Committee or by a number of the people who have been banned.
Schmid’s report can be read here.
It turns out that the entirety of the evidence relied upon by Professor McLaren to support his claim of a gigantic government organised doping conspiracy in Russia is apart from Rodchenkov’s unsupported testimony a number of emails which passed between Rodchenkov and his co-conspirators and which were provided to Professor McLaren by Rodchenkov himself.
The problem is that the emails do not show the involvement of any senior government officials in the doping conspiracy.
Not a single email originates from a senior government official. One official of the Sports Ministry – Vice-Minister Yury Nagornykh – was copied into some of the emails, though Schmid admits that he himself wrote none of them.
Schmid concludes that the fact Nagornykh was copied into some of the emails means that he “must have known” about Rodchenkov’s scheme.
Since however Schmid does not provide copies of the emails and hints that he may not have even read some of them, it is impossible to accept this claim with any confidence
In all these email exchanges produced, many names in the address bar (from, to and cc) have been blacked out by the IP in order to protect the confidentiality of these persons. For this reason, Professor Richard McLaren was unable to share with the IOC DC the original messages. As a consequence, the IOC DC is not able to confirm who was really aware of the information exchanged in the various emails.
(bold italics added)
It is quite clear from these words that none of the individuals who have now been penalised on the strength of the emails have been shown them either.
In other words they have been condemned on the strength of evidence they were not shown and which they were not therefore in a position to comment on or refute.
That is a shocking offence against due process, and I am astonished that it is happening and no-one is complaining about it.
One person who even McLaren now admits was not part of the email chain – and against whom no evidence of involvement in the doping scheme therefore exists – is Russia’s former Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko.
Here is what Schmid has to say about him
In one exchange of emails between Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov and Mr. Alexey Velikodniy regarding a footballer, Mr. Velikodniy mentioned that “the decision is with VL for consideration and approval”. This single reference could not be considered as sufficient to demonstrate the personal involvement of the then Minister of Sport.
(bold italics added)
Even McLaren himself now admits (though very grudgingly) that there is no evidence against Mutko. His whole case against Mutko it turns out is based entirely on a guess
Your question about Mr. Mutko was: did he know? information is provided to the ministry and like any hierarchical organisation it flows upwards in the organisational structure. So I would think that the information came to him through the ministry. But it was the deputy minister (Nagornykh – AM) who was in charge of the process I described. I don’t have any direct evidence as to whether he knew or didn’t know. I have met with him, I have discussed the matter with him, he didn’t indicate that he knew.
(bold italics added)
Not only is McLaren’s case against Mutko based entirely on a guess, but it is a guess which is completely unwarranted.
Given that Rodchenkov and his associates were engaging in a criminal conspiracy would the information about it really flow effortlessly up the organisational structure of the ministry until it reached Mutko himself? The only circumstance where that would happen would be if Mutko and the entire staff of the ministry were also part of the conspiracy. That obviously is what McLaren believes, but of which he admits he has no evidence.
The fact that McLaren believes such a thing without having any evidence for it incidentally exposes the extent of his bias. It also shows why his entire theory is not just unwarranted but almost certainly wrong.
Most of the rest of the Schmid report is concerned with the evidence of the existence of extensive and organised doping before and during the Sochi Olympics in Russia. Since no one least of all the Russian authorities deny that this took place, it is not obvious why this information has been provided in such detail.
What however of the individual at the centre of this scandal – RUSADA’s doping mastermind and McLaren’s key witness Dr. Rodchenkov – what does Schmid have to say about him?
It turns out that Rodchenkov not only was instrumental in carrying out the doping but that he did at least some of it for money
One of the major actors identified was Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov, director of the Moscow Laboratory; he was at the heart of the doping activities and of the positive drugs test cover-up; he had direct access within the Ministry of Sport to request funds for the laboratory equipment. The Report showed that in his position he was not only accepting but also requesting money in order to execute the concealment of positive tests of Russian athletics athletes. Furthermore, he admitted during an interview to have intentionally destroyed 1,417 samples at the end of 2014 in order to limit the extent of the WADA’s audit, of which he was previously informed by WADA.
(bold italics added)
In other words Rodchenkov was not just a cheat but was corrupt as well.
Elsewhere Schmid discusses how Rodchenkov insinuated himself into the international anti-doping system
Within the evolution of the system, the analysis of the evidence as well as the movie Icarus, shows that Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov played a key role. Due to his scientific abilities he was able to set-up detection methods to improve the fight against doping, to publish scientific articles and participate to experts’ observatory programmes, winning so a great international credibility. This enabled him on one hand, as an anti-doping expert, to gain access to the international expertise and strategy, in particular, during the Olympic Games London 2012, which helped him to contribute to the development of the specific system to be operational during the Olympic Winter Games Sochi 2014.
Yet this is the corrupt and scheming individual whose largely uncorroborated claims of a government organised state sponsored doping conspiracy McLaren accepts as true.
Schmid – somewhat grudgingly but nonetheless conclusively – admits that there is in fact no evidence of a government organised state sponsored doping conspiracy in Russia
….the independent and impartial evidence do not allow the IOC DC to establish with certitude either who initiated or who headed this scheme.
On many occasions, reference was made on the involvement at the Minister of Sport’s level, but no indication, independent or impartial evidence appeared to corroborate any involvement or knowledge at a higher level of the State.
Elsewhere Schmid admits that the doping scheme in Russia did not involve all Russian athletes – a sure indication by the way that it was not government organised or state sponsored – and that it was different from the doping scheme in the former German Democratic Republic, which of course was both government organised and state sponsored.
Given that this is so, why is former Sports Minister Mutko against whom no evidence of wrongdoing exists being banned from participating in the Olympic Games for the rest of his life?
Why is the Russian Olympic Committee being suspended, when no evidence of the involvement of any of its members in the doping scheme exists?
The IOC DC notes that neither the IC’s nor the IP’s Reports mentioned the participation of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) in the system. No findings appeared during the IOC DC’s investigation to contradict these statements.
In order to justify the IOC’s actions against Mutko, the ROC and other Russian individuals and sports institutions against whom no evidence of wrongdoing exists, Schmid comes up with a complicated theory of their legal responsibility for the doping scheme even though there is no evidence that they knew about it.
All I would say about that is that I have never heard of a case where individuals against whom no evidence of wrongdoing exists and who must therefore be presumed to have acted at all times in good faith are punished because of a criminal conspiracy carried out by others of which there is no evidence they had any knowledge.
That truly is guilt by association, and it is wrong.
Right at the very start of the Russian Olympic Doping Scandal in an article for Sputnik dated 12th November 2015, I said that the right way forward was not to impose discriminatory and unlawful blanket bans on Russian athletes which ignored the presumption of innocence and which contradicted the humanitarian and inclusive principles of the Olympic Games, but to work with the Russians to ensure that anti-doping systems in Russia were made as strong as possible so that large scale doping of the sort organised by Dr. Rodchenkov could no longer take place
….it seems to me utterly wrong to ban athletes from competing simply because they are Russian.
That goes utterly against the humanitarian principles upon which the Olympics were founded. It is also contrary to the non-discriminatory principles in most national laws.The Russian authorities are challenging some of the allegations — as it is their right to do — but look to be genuinely offering cooperation to help solve the problem.
For example they have offered to appoint a foreign specialist to head their laboratory. The right thing to do is not to impose a blanket ban but to work with the Russian authorities so that the problem can be solved.
That may involve bringing criminal charges and imposing individual bans on specific persons, barring them from involvement in international sports training and competition.
If that does not happen and a blanket ban on Russian athletes is imposed instead, then it seems to me that the world’s sporting bodies will not only have retreated from their ideals but will open themselves up to questions about what their real motives are.
‘Solving the problem’ in this way is exactly the approach the Russian authorities – who do not deny the existence of large scale doping problem in Russia – have taken.
The anti-doping systems now put in place in Russia are now universally acknowledged to be just about the best in the world. Here is how Steve Scott, sports editor of the ITN news channel in Britain, describes them
A lot has changed at the Russia Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) in the past 18 months and, according to some close to this transformation, if you employ objective criteria, the Moscow laboratory is as good as it gets.
“The quality of testing and planning is very high.” a senior anti-doping source told me.
The Agency has doubled in size, has had its budget doubled too and is carrying out twice as many tests. It has also built up a team of 50 trained doping control officers, whereas before it had none. As for a much needed cultural shift, there has also been a significant changeover of staff; few remain who were immersed in the bad old ways of doing things.
Given that this is so and that there is now longer any possibility of Russian athletes engaging in a massive doping conspiracy in the coming Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang, why is action being taken to prevent them competing on the same basis as everyone else?
It turns out that WADA is refusing to certify RUSADA – Russia’s radically reorganised anti-doping laboratory – for no other reason than that the Russian authorities are refusing to accept the McLaren report.
Why however should the Russian authorities accept the McLaren report when McLaren’s claims of a massive government organised state sponsored doping conspiracy in Russia have been shown to have no evidence behind them?
Is it anyway right and proper to coerce someone into confessing a crime for which no evidence exists? Is that not the action of a blackmailer or of a police state? Is that the sort of behaviour the International Olympic Committee – guardian of the Olympic Movement and upholder of its ideals – wants to associate itself with?
In reality the decision of the International Olympic Committee to ban certain Russians from involvement in the Olympic Movement, to suspend the Russian Olympic Committee, and to allow only specially invited Russian athletes to compete in the Winter Olympics and then only under the Olympic flag, has nothing to do either with sport or doping or the principles of legality.
It is entirely the product of politics, and the Russians are right to say it is.
Though this is the worst decision the International Olympic Committee has taken in its whole history, it is just possible that we may be approaching the end of this tawdry affair.
It seems that if the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang end without scandals then the Russian Olympic Committee will be readmitted to the Olympic Movement on the last day of the Games, allowing Russian athletes to celebrate the last day of the Games under their own flag.
Presumably that means that restrictions on the participation by Russian athletes in future Olympic Games will be lifted.
That presumably is why the Russian authorities are encouraging their athletes to participate in the PyeongChang Games under the Olympic flag, humiliating though they say they find it.
Whilst I understand this reasoning, I am not sure I share it.
An Olympic Movement capable of making such a grossly discriminatory and frankly unlawful decision is obviously no longer fit for purpose.
In light of this I think that the Russians and the many other national teams that must privately think this should now set about setting up their own alternative sports competitions, initially in parallel to those of the Olympic Movement but eventually as alternatives to them.
Since I doubt that this will be the last of these scandals that seems to me the only way forward.
The olympic “brass” have betrayed more than the Russians, they betrayed the whole institution of the olympics and what it is supposed to represent. As for the mclarens and their fellow offal providing this corrupt to the core olympic “brass” their stitch-up “evidence”, these are criminals are engaging in widespread fraud and fabrications with malicious intent. Mentally, they are little different from the pindo mccarthy rightwing faggot freakshow of the 1940s & 50s.
This is part of the zionazi full spectrum dominance war by cowards strategy. It also shows how much contempt they have for everything that is not specifically Jewish. They are destroying the olympics and international sports for everyone just so they can get what really is just a minor propaganda coup against Russia. The sodding things literally view everything not specifically Jewish as a disposable tool to be used up, then discarded.
The 2018 FIFA World Cup will be a total disaster in financial terms and Putin will be blamed for such fiasco.
Please explain.
I have not heard of any countries refusing to pay FIFA for the TV rights. That’s where FIFA gets the big bucks.
Ticket sales are going rather well according to the Russian media.
So, please explain how this is going to be a financial disaster?
Plus FIFA has never had a problem with corrupt tournaments where the home country does surprisingly well. See for example the way perennial futbol powers like South Korea and Japan did very well when they hosted the tournament. Of course, FIFA will tell you that its just magic and the athletes are riding on the emotion of the home fans and that a series of bad calls by a perennially corrupt FIFA referee had nothing to do with it. Russia will almost certainly make the ‘knock-out’ stages just to sell a few more tickets.
The Olympics has long been totally corrupted. It is largely a means for those connected to to pass construction deals on to their buddies. Some athletes are also part of this game, via ridiculous ‘advertising’ franchises. Both exploit those naive sports men and women who adhere to the original aims of the Olympics.
There is a problem with this analysis; it is logical and appeals to moral principles. In so doing, it deals with the facts pertinent to the injustice of banning Russian participation in the Olympics and ignores, probably purposefully, the root cause.
As an American with Syrian ancestry, I have been watching the events in Syria closely, aided by organizations that mostly tell the whole truth. These include this site, RT, Southfront and syria.liveuamap.com. By watching events day to day, it was possible to determine that the US was fomenting chaos and that Russia was working for peace.
By watching Israeli provocations, both with cross border attacks and with lies and partial truths delivered at the UN and via US media, it is clear who the puppet master is. That the military-industrial complex is also involved cannot be ignored, but their role is more like the big brother who has a drug habit that can only be fixed by getting into brawls, whereas the role of Israel is like the little sister who enables the drug habit and at the same time gets big brother to beat up other kids she does not like.
Prime culpability rests solely with Israel.
That a nation chooses to promote its own interest, even when violating international laws, is something I can abide. What irks me is the way our own country has been subverted in order to do Israel’s bidding. To what subversion do I refer and what can be done about it?
This raises the question: Do the ADL, SPLC, AIPAC and other organizations that appeal to a commonly held belief in the superiority of Zionism (as evidenced by the way certain questions about whether Zionism is even moral or not are disallowed, AKA Crimestop) and in doing so effectively establish a state religion that we used to call politically correct thinking but now simply wi6thout naming them, but implicitly thinking only the correct thoughts that are compatible with Ingsoc.
The First Amendment states that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof.” It does not use the phrase “separation of church and state.”
It seems to me that so much that is going wrong with my country right now is due to a tacit acceptance of the religion Judaism as expressed in the Talmud, combined with laws such as prohibition of hate crimes and prohibition of the BSD movement.
I hereby reject Judaism and Zionism as the state religion of the United States of America as 1) unconstitutional and anti-American, 2) Zionist supremacist and 3) immoral.
JS
“By watching Israeli provocations, both with cross border attacks and with lies and partial truths delivered at the UN and via US media, it is clear who the puppet master is. That the military-industrial complex is also involved cannot be ignored, but their role is more like the big brother who has a drug habit that can only be fixed by getting into brawls, whereas the role of Israel is like the little sister who enables the drug habit and at the same time gets big brother to beat up other kids she does not like.”
That is a great way of putting it.
“This raises the question: Do the ADL, SPLC, AIPAC and other organizations that appeal to a commonly held belief in the superiority of Zionism (as evidenced by the way certain questions about whether Zionism is even moral or not are disallowed, AKA Crimestop) and in doing so effectively establish a state religion that we used to call politically correct thinking but now simply wi6thout naming them, but implicitly thinking only the correct thoughts that are compatible with Ingsoc.”
Do you deem such organizations as not legitimate ?
I do not share such organizations views or approve of their manners but nonetheless consider them as legitimate.
That is the heart of the matter. If one desires to influence policies then one should build such organizations. And others need to build competing organizations.
What are you building ?
Eventually they would build a competing organization just like Chinese and Russian challenged the USD through gold interchangeable currencies the only matter is when their credibility running out.
It’s called monopoly. Supposedly they are once a legitimate uncorrupted organization that once trusted to make the rules and carrying out the regulations though over the years the leader of the entity are biased then arranged the successive of the new leader according to their bias that in turn will make similarly biased regulation and policy further down.
Anonymous requires that I build something, ignores that something has already been built. It is called the United States of America and it is defined by its Constitution, Amendments, Statutes, and court decisions (case law).
I ask Anonymous why I should build something when something has already been built.
Anonymous declares that
are legitimate organizations, ignores the obvious fact these organizations attempt to de-legitimize the First Amendment. These organizations tacitly endorse a state religion that is the state religion of another, non-democratic country, and then try to criminalize criticism of that religion.
I ask Anonymous why it would be wrong to force these organizations to register as agents of a foreign government and to deny them access to Congress. As agents of a foreign government, they are legitimate, but as advisors to our lawmakers, administrators and judges, they are not.
Anonymous states that the heart of the matter is that these organizations that are destroying our country are legitimate. I respond by stating that we do not need to build a new organization (and it was very clever the way Anonymous tried to reframe my argument), only to use existing laws to render these organizations that have no loyalty to the USA impotent.
My apology to Alexander Mercouris; his thesis is to use standards of evidence and due process to oppose the political decision that is banning recognition of Russia at the games. My thesis is to use existing laws to oppose the corruption of our national (USA) principles.
James
Politics is an everyday struggle.
The fact is that US is diverse and the majority of US Citizen do not care about what you say. Or are ignorant sleeping sheeps.
One deserves Freedom. That is not innate.
The organizations you speak about have willpower, world views if not civilizational views. Are organized to prevail. And that is legitimate.
One cannot only blame others about his own weakness, civilizational decadence and absence of organized political awareness or representativeness and just express frustration.
True. The place to start is to recognize that these organizations seek to undermine and are innately opposite the founding principles. This is the primary message. When that message can be spoken loudly, clearly and without recrimination …..
This is an information campaign.
Thanks for a great analysis. If you ever find the time, what I, and i think many of us, woukd love to read is what would be the best legal counter strategy? Can this matter be taken to the courts where the IOC and other entitiies or individuals can be forced to accountbfor what they have done? Can the Russian government, Russian athletic authorities or individual Russian athletes seek legal redress against injustice?
Because if it is possible to use the courts to make life hell for the people who deserve it, that wouuld be great.
Lawfare. Give them a taste of their own medicine.
“Lawfare.”
In Zion’s empire the Judiciary domain is like central banking and media a goy-free zone. All lawyers, attorneys, judges, etc. are members of the BAR association, a private, Zion controlled monopoly, whose internal rules and regulations, that all BAR members are sworn to, supersedes the constitutions and laws of all nation states.
“That can’t be true”, you say. “Go start researching the BAR association”, I reply.
Sport is of no importance. The banning of Russian athletes by the IOC is a baited hook that must not be taken. Even snapping one’s jaws anywhere near it serves only to undermine global peace prospects.
This is a great opportunity for the Russian Federation to dissociate itself with the pagan Olympics. Anyone worshiping the God of Abraham must not endorse or take part in Olympics which was originally held in honor of the pagan god, Zeus.
The IOC did not exclude Russia – that would have been a definite decision, if alone for organisational reasons. Instead they complied with the pressure from US and the Gulf states to a symbolic extent. The Olympic flag for Russian athletes can be switched to the Russian ones with a strike of a pen. So the coward and corrupt IOC betrayed the Olympic idea once more, but decided not to put all their eggs in one basket and instead issued a placebo to the borg to keep all options open. They do not place their bets on the borg, and given their ruthless racketeering, thats a relevant development.
Not unexpectedly, Mercouris’ sharp legal mind thoroughly destroys the Russian doping case. If it was ever brought before a court of law, it wouldn’t get past discovery. It most likely won’t ever get there, unless Russia brings a libel case.
The IOC’s scandalous decision is but another testament to the West’s hypocrisy, and its concomitant turn to the generation & dissemination of false narratives on a global scale. No matter how unbelievable, those who don’t believe them are forced to act as if they were true. That includes IOC members as well. That’s no mean feat in the propaganda wars, to be sure, but that game has its limits. The approach to those limits accelerates as the narratives become increasingly preposterous.
Civilizations collapse when their sustaining narratives collapse in the face of undeniable realities. The West will, I fear, reach that point in my lifetime and a large part of that will be due to the simply unbelievable quantity and mendacity of the anti-Russian memes pouring from every Western spigot.
Had I not been witness to it and its efficacy, I would have rejected it as even remotely possible. Humans, it seems are vulnerable to narratives, and any narrative, however improbable, will do as long as it doesn’t violate another equally cherished narrative. I wonder what AI will be like?
The nazi thugs raping Kiev will pitch in to slime Russia at these Korean Oilympics.
My best guess is Mikhiel Saakashvili is permanently dispatched two days prior to the opening ceremony. It will chord nicely with his 2008 adventure. So young Mikhiel provides a relaunch platform in the information space for Russian aggression in Georgia and he provides a tragic figure. I can’t see any other reason for the puppet Mikhiel’s positioning.
Hi!
What’s preventing Russian fans from waving Russian flags? Nothing!I think that whoever came up with this idea of banning the Russian flag will soon realize how this will only serve to promote Russian athletes even more. People will be wondering who are these athletes without flag and undoubtedly Russian fans will wave their flags and wear their emblems proudly during the Olympics. In my opinion this is a PR blunder by whomever decided to punish and humiliate Russia.
Perhaps an athlete about to retire and not worried about being banned might reveal the Russian flag under their jacket or uniform? This will look revolutionary in the eyes of young viewers and will only serve to promote Russia even more.
Basicly, it’s up to the Russian fans who attend these games to one-up the IOC and Gulf toadies by ensuring the Russian National anthem is sung loudly and proudly by the fans in attendance, Russian flags held high for all the world to see, as Russian athletes are adorned with shining (maybe fake, hmm) Gold Medals.
The Olympic Games — same kind of utter rubbish as the so-called Eurovision “song contest”. And in case Russia gets banned from the FIFA World Cup next year, indeed losing the rights to host the tournament altogether (on some equally ludicrous pretext/s), then the Zionazi politicization of Big Entertainment is total.
It’s almost funny to see how the Zionazis rage and fume against Russia and Putin. One wonders to what extent they believe their own lies and imbecilities.
Hear, hear. The Olympics are nothing but Big Entertainment, I haven’t watched for decades. And now they are politicized as well. The IOC has betrayed not only Russia but the Olympic ideal. The Nobel Peace Prize has gone the same way: politicized, in the worst sense of a once honorable word. “And like a scurvy politician, pretend to see what thou dost not” — and not to see what everybody else can see.
Putin said that this banning was done right before spring preliminary elections in Russia to cause dissatisfaction and protest against the government by the Russian people. It would seem then for the government NOT to let the athletes go to participate as a counter political act would not be the wisest thing.
Chin up, take the humiliation, wait and then act.
To let someone participate yet then humiliate them shows who is the bad sportsman in this whole mess. So now a Russian citizen is temporarily subject to the discriminatory rules of a New World Order type institution? Is some kind of wedge being pushed onto individual athletes? Smacks of the same kind of divide and rule atmosphere being created by demonic forces here in the USA.
It is clear, then, that these are lies, subterfuge and prevarications of a jailhouse snitch who takes some truths of his crimes yet conflates them into unproved but mildly plausible lies in accusation against others.. Was it the “I was just following orders” defense of an Eichmann or “If I didn’t do it someone else would have” defense of a George Soros?
What ever happened to the rules of circumstantial evidence much less proof beyond a reasonable doubt?
Thanks for the article!
Russia has refused, again, to bend the knee to the West. This is their unforgivable crime. The attack on Russian Olympic sports is so offensive and outrageous I am at a loss for words.
There has been no Olympic Betrayal nor even Western Betrayal of Russia…
O.K., us in the west have got a completely useless bunch of politicians et al (inc media especialy) who are just vile – and write and say complete rubbish. We don’t believe it – they just write that we do believe and fake opinion polls….and we think you complete utter bunch of lying useless people.
Most of us English quite like Russians. It’s the Americans we can’t stand… A Russian just says it straight and buys you a drink – like Americans used to be like 40 years ago – since then, they’ve lost it. It’s not our fault. We didn’t tell the Americans to eff off or anything (well a bit).
Now lets have a book of the year thread, not using quite so many words..in one article (unless its Pepe Escobar or Linh Dinh – he does brilliant photography too)
Some of you Russians did rather well IMHO – in The Competition.
“2017 World Book of The Year”
https://www.craigmurray.org.uk/archives/2017/12/russophobia-goes-comic/comment-page-6/#comment-711643
Tony
When Serbian athletes were banned from all international sports, during the sanctions, Monica Seles was no 1 in tennis. She was permitted to compete under a neutral white flag. During this time we watched her being threatened, bullied, taunted, and then stabbed on court. She maintained her dignity and composure throughout this difficult time.
Every single Serbian tennis star from this current generation, male and female, Ana Ivanovic, Novak Djokovic etc. have spoken of how she was a great inspiration and role model for them, not only how she played, also how she behaved.
This is why I believe the Russian athletes, if they want to participate, should participate. The Russian people will know exactly who their idols are and will be watching and supporting them. The Russian athletes will be an inspiration to all Russians, even with a neutral flag.
Just imagine if Jesse Owens had decided he didn’t want to participate in the Berlin Olympics because the organisers were racist Nazis?
Russian political and sports leadership must act however to neutralise Prof. McLaren. He is the one who wrote this inacceptably biased report sponsored by WADA. The Russians must declare that they do not wish for him to be involved in anything concerning their country, he must be banned from participating in any task force, sports event in Russia, and in fact, he should be banned from any professional activity in Russia. The Russians must show that there are consequences for individuals in these types of organisations if they act as stooges for US. In the long run, if they are unable to blacklist such individuals successfully then parallel sports organisations will need to be created.
McLaren is the shame of Canada. What is truly terrifying is that in that Neo-Fascist Banderist state people like McLaren are allowed to lecture in law to impressionable university students. This accelerates and ensures the decline of what little Canadian civil society may have once existed. Canada exists mainly as a kind of flotsam and jetsam thrown overboard in the wake of the Anglo-Zionist Empire and being sucked after it. McLaren has risen for a moment as a senile and probably child-molesting ‘floater’ in the turbulence. Imagine how the Anglo-Zionist, sixty-four-gendered cabal (And that is who they are from Bach to Reedie and McLaren) predates on young, fit and often highly physically desirable athletes.
Well one has to admit that it fits nicely (in the minds of American sheep) with the ‘Russia hacked our elections meme.
There has been an announcement by the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) that it will support Russian athletes who wish to compete independently at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. This follows the announcement by the Russian government that it will not boycott the Winter Olympics.
Far from being gestures of humiliation, these announcements look like trolling. If enough independent Russian athletes attend and compete under the Olympic flag, either as individuals or as independent teams, with the support of the ROC, their very presence and their numbers make a mockery of the IOC ban.
Other athletes might decide also to compete as independents and if they are forced to compete under their own nations’ flags, then the IOC would be revealed as hypocrites and the ban on Russia would be revealed as politically motivated.
This could well be another victory of sorts for Russia, deflecting the weapons and attacks of its enemies against them, leaving them with egg and custard pie on their faces.
If this event does not open up the eyes of Europe integration loving Russians then what would!
I think the best answer to this olympic conspiracy is very simple,
Become the rogue Nation they in fact think of you, become part of the axis of evil.
And hurting your enemy is very easy in fact this threat can be used to reverse this decision. Here it is:
Give advance weapons to Hizbollah (SU-35s maybe)?
Give advance weapons to Yemanis,
Give advance weapons to North Korea S500 maybe,
But no this will hurt Russian western “partners”, well then Russians please don’t cry when shit hits the fan…
Alex – I’ll summarise your somewhat long-winded article to a much shorter text. McLaren IS acting illegally, his source is a corrupt criminal, and he does NOT believe all Russian athletes are guilty. WADA & IOC are US vassals pursuing a US political goal of humiliating Russia on the basis of NO evidence. The Olympics in it’s current form is finished and there WILL be an alternative emerging.
I still like the idea of a BRIC Games.
Could easily start with Russia and China staging joint competitions just between themselves. Invite the other BRIC nations. There is enough good athletes amongst them to stage a very credible competition. It won’t be long until other athletes once to come and compete, especially when some world records are being set and it becomes clear that at least in some sports winning a BRIC medal is more prestigious than winning an Olympic medal.
I really like the idea of all athletes being ‘neutrals’ I can’t stand the obvious nationalism of the Olympics. Get the best athletes in the world together, and I don’t care if the best 8 sprinters are all from Jamaica or if the best 20 marathoners are all from Kenya and Ethiopia. I’m the rare person these boards who actually likes sports, but I’d be quite happy with just seeing the best compete against each other. And keep any national flags out of it. Watch a Diamond League track meet of Olympic level athletes and there are no national uniforms, instead you can spot the Nike athletes as they all wear the same kit.
Broadcast it for free to the world via the internet.
My guess is that this could quickly grow, and athletes from around the world would want to come. And don’t be surprised if a lot of American athletes, especially those with less Caucasian appearence, were quite happy to come as ‘neutrals’. They are kneeling in protest at the American anthem and policies like a murderous American police state anyways. I think some of them would be very happy with competing as neutrals.
Excellent! Another Big Lie unraveled but without any Justice being obtained and those that initiated the Lie have yet to suffer any consequences. Personally, myself and family will never watch another olympics [lowercase for a very good reason]..
If Russian athletes go to Pyeongchang in large numbers – which they will only be allowed to do if they have no previous bans for doping – they will be tested more rigorously than the athletes of any other country. If they are tested more rigorously than the athletes of any other country, have no previous bans for doping, and win, then they obviously won without doping. They would thus shred WADA’s arguments, and hopefully the IOC would have the good grace to be embarrassed for its cowardice.
I am personally in favour of the Olympics being discontinued anyway, as they have become nothing more than a political venue for America to get its rocks off. If it can’t win everything, it accuses the winners of cheating.
Does Russian send money and funds to the IOC? If it were strong and determined it could quit the IOC and take its money with it, and maybe other nations would follow.
The original Olympics was in Greece and perhaps a new games should start up there which has less politics (and highly paid professional teams) and is more about the individual, though individuals should be able to wear a flag symbol or uniforms if they wish.
If I was Mr. Putin, I’d wait till the very end of the Games. The IOC likes to pat themselves on the back, there is always an announcement from the IOC Grand Poobah that these Games were the Greatest Games Ever or something in those sorts of terms.
But if I was Mr. Putin, I’d wait till that just before that moment to derail the whole IOC crowd by announcing then that Russia is now withdrawing from the entire Olympic movement because Russia now sees that they will not be treated with any fairness or justice by a now-revealed to be very political Olympic movement.
The next two Games are scheduled to be in nations that are more friendly… Qatar Summer Games in 2020 and Bejing Winter Games in 2022. But the host country doesn’t really matter. Its not South Korea that has booted Russia from these games, but the IOC.
That Bejing is hosting the next Winter Games would likely mean that you won’t get China to join Russia in this. Most Olympic hosts are under an illusion that they’ll make money or ‘promote’ their country to the rest of the world, but maybe Bejing understands after the last summer Games that it doesn’t really make money and that China’s standing in the rest of the world is basically the same with or without the Bejing summer games. So, maybe Russia can drop a bigger bombshell that Russia and China and maybe others are pulling out of the Olympic movement, including an announcement that the IOC now needs to scramble and find new hosts for the next Winter games.
But either way, its the ideal time for Russia to say that Olympics won’t have Russia to kick around any more.
And that the IOC won’t be receiving any more checks from Russia TV.
Bonus points if Russia quietly backed a free internet and free people getting to watch such events for free. Don’t make that a part of the announcement, but those dastardly Russian hackers should be able to cost the IOC and their pet broadcasters like pro-war NBC/Comcast some real money.
I could understand the following.
I can understand a competition like the Olympics requiring a sign off before the games that athletes have tested ‘clean’. Its the only way to have a ‘clean’ competition, and I don’t like the idea of every teenager with Olympic dreams having to take steroids if they want to even get in the door to compete at world class sports.
I can understand the World anti Doping authority saying at some point that it no longer accepts signoffs from the Russian ADA or any other groupd to which its delegated the authority to test athletes and provide these signoffs. Of course, the American ADA and the UK ADA, who both seem to gladly give out ‘therapeutic use’ letters like candy to let their athletes cheat should also be banned.
I could understand if at some point prior to the games, perhaps six months, the WADA saying that since the RADA has had its authority withdrawn, that athletes need to be directly tested by the WADA or providing a list of substitutes that would be acceptable to the WADA.
Thus, any athletes, from Russia or anywhere else, has the capability to get the required clearance from either WADA or some other agency accredited by WADA.
But what is obviously unfair and highly political is the blanket assumption that all athletes from Russia are dirty and a blanket ban on the Russian flag, the Russian uniform or the Russian anthem. The Russian flag, the Russian uniform, and the Russian anthem haven’t done anything.
I still say that whatever ‘neutral’ Russian athlete who manages to sneak a Russian flag into their medal ceremony will become an instant national hero. You might also see Russian athletes ‘take a knee’ during the so-called Olympic anthem in protest. Especially since I’d be very surprised if some American athlete doesn’t also take a knee during the US anthem in solidarity with the NFL players and other athletes who’ve been doing that for months. Although the winter olympians from the US tend to be a very light skinned bunch, so perhaps not. But, even if they strip-search every Russia born medalist and prevent them from bringing any flags or similar into the medal ceremonies, simply by taking a knee during the fake-Olympic anthem, a Russian-born athlete can make a powerful statement to the world.
Either way, I’m boycotting the Games. The NHL has already killed off the hockey tournament, and that was about the only thing worth watching in the Winter Games. NBC/Comcast will broadcast many hours of curling, but seriously, i can’t watch grown adults sliding a rock down the ice for more than 5 minutes anyhow.
If you want to have the NBC’s of the world clamoring for politics to stay out of sports, then have them lose money from lack of viewers after Russia is b anned from the Olympics. In the Anglo-Capitalist World Empire, money talks. Boycott the Olympics to make the money say what you want it to say.