Why the Russian Olympic doping saga shows the need for a radically different approach to anti-doping in sport
Sport, and particularly the International Olympic Committee (IOC), needs a new approach to doping – one in which1 it frankly and independently interrogates what went wrong and uses that analysis to secure the future.
Mistakes have been made to the extent that doping scandals have dominated the build-up to the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics. This is one of the IOC’s marquee events, and the financial viability of the Olympic “movement” depends on it.
The background to the latest scandal is easily explained. But the lessons that need to be learned are not so simply analysed.
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- Tags: Anti-Doping | Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) | International Olympic Committee (IOC) | Russia | Russian Olympic Committee | Winter Olympics | World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)
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Written by
Jack Anderson
Jack Anderson is a Professor of Law at the University of Melbourne. He has published extensively on sports law, and most recently A Concise Introduction to Sports Law (Edward Elgar, 2024).
He is a member of World Athletics’ Disciplinary Tribunal and the integrity unit of the International Hockey Federation. He is an Ethics Commissioner for the International Tennis Federation and World Boxing. Jack is an arbitrator on Football Australia’s National Dispute Resolution Chamber, the National Sports Tribunal of Australia, and Sport Resolutions UK.
Global Summit 2024
Paul Horvath
I agree with all that Jack. It is important that in the fight to ensure that we have clean sport, a level playing filed for all athletes, we don't inadvertently punish some innocent athletes as "collateral damage". As you say, if the system can be improved, then we will all be better off.
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