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WADA and the IOC Will be One Another's Salvation or Undoing
23 October 2016, 11h00 EDT (UTC-4) http://www.maharaj.org/blog/2016_10_23.shtml
At the Canadian Intl Council, with Stu Rothenburg. His analysis of US politics suggests a nation slowly rejecting the ideal of modus vivendi
The Montreal Gazette Click photo for the newspaper article
My article in the Montreal Gazette discussed what the recent "Olympic Summit" means for international affairs and the future of global sport integrity. The Gazette published a slightly shortened version of my article below; the full text was later carried by several other publications in Europe and North America.
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Recently, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) convened a closed-door summit,
to debate the future of the global anti-doping regime. The summit was
prompted by revelations of state-sponsored doping in the Russian sport
system, which had ruptured into the public sphere on the eve of the Rio
Olympic Games.
Yet, the IOC declaration
emerging from its four-hour conclave said nothing about halting those
crimes or bringing their perpetrators to justice. Instead, the IOC
demanded a fundamental repurposing of the World Anti-Doping Agency
(WADA), the institution that had had the audacity to investigate and
expose the crimes.
WADA had called -- in vain -- for the IOC to
ban the Russian team from Rio. In the months since, the agency has
endured a campaign of vilification by political actors and cyberattacks
by hackers. Far more insidiously, too many of WADA's ostensible sport
partners appear to feel that the agency has betrayed them, by unmasking
the ugly truths that lie behind impeccable fictions.
In this clash between the high ideals of sport
and the low ruthlessness of politics, WADA holds the ethical high
ground, but is catastrophically outmatched in its material resources.
In September, WADA convened a "Think Tank"
in Lausanne, to advise them as they sally forth. I left those
discussions with a sense that the mismatch between WADA's colossal
mission and its pygmy budget is flatly absurd.
From an athlete's perspective, we need an
independent WADA to protect us from exploitation. Too often, the only
reward for ethical athletes is to suffer the injustice of being cheated
of our rightful victories. On the other side, athletes who are enabled
or coerced into doping are eventually left damaged in body and broken in
mind.
From a global perspective, we need a powerful
WADA to thwart subversion of international affairs. For better and for
worse, sport has become a key instrument of statecraft, as much as
diplomacy and aid, as much as defence and intelligence.
To the extent that sport becomes captive to political corruption, it becomes an instrument to prop up tyrannies and kleptocracies, an instrument to marginalise democracy and the rule of law. It becomes a weapon against the common interests of the human race.
I feel certain that in the fullness of time,
WADA's willingness to expose and condemn state-sponsored doping in
Russia will come to be seen as a seminal victory in the fight for sport
integrity. Yes, WADA could have moved sooner and faster. However, this
should not blind us to the fact that before WADA was created, no one
ever moved against the chamber of horrors of the East German sport system.
But it would be folly to believe that WADA
could strike a blow against some of the most powerful figures in sport
and politics, without those figures striking back. They have done so,
and they will continue to pummel WADA until it perishes or it prevails
over them.
The outcome will hinge on whether WADA will be
able to rely upon the support of governments and athletes, as well as
that of the IOC and the International Paralympic Committee.
I take some comfort in the fact that the IOC
has insisted that it supports WADA's independence and its capacity to
prosecute its mandate. However, I must confess that that is not my
impression when I read the invective penned by the IOC's officers.
My impression is instead that the IOC can not
forgive WADA for embarrassing the Olympic leadership during their moment
in the sun. I fear that lurking behind the IOC's subtly scripted
declaration on remaking WADA, are designs to undermine and supplant it.
If there is any justice to this impression, then I should offer the IOC leadership some simple advice.
Not everyone who stands up to you is your enemy, just as not everyone who flatters you is your friend.
Ultimately, WADA and the IOC will be one
another's salvation, or undoing. The only people who would prosper from a
confrontation between the two institutions would be those who trade
upon doping in sport.
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The World Anti-Doping Agency Think Tank
14 October 2016, 12h00 EDT (UTC-4) http://www.maharaj.org/blog/2016_10_14.shtml
Three weeks before the Rio Summer Olympic Games’ opening ceremonies, the World Anti-Doping Association (WADA) published its Independent Person Report
into the Sochi Winter Olympics. The findings were damning: Russia’s
Ministry of Sport, government security service, and testing laboratory
had operated a state-sponsored doping programme, suppressing positive
test results and substituting counterfeit test samples to shield
cheating athletes.
WADA called for Russia to be banned
from the Olympic and Paralympic Games. The International Paralympic
Committee (IPC) agreed; the International Olympic Committee (IOC) did
not.
Since then, we have careered towards a
pitiless confrontation between the high ideals of sport and the low
ruthlessness of some of the most powerful figures in global affairs.
Which will prevail is very much an open question.
At the end of September, WADA convened a
“Think Tank” in Lausanne, to advise them as they sally forth. The group
included leaders from a broad range of international sport institutions
and national governments, representing a sometimes-stark diversity of
views. They invited me as an independent voice, drawing on my
experience in both Equestrianism and in combatting political corruption.
The Think Tank was conducted under the Chatham House Rule, to ensure that our discussions would be unrestrained and uncensored. It certainly achieved that objective.
WADA has, however, agreed to allow a summary
of the discussions and outcomes to be circulated, and I am sharing the
document with GOPAC’s legislators to encourage them to strengthen
domestic laws and international agreements against doping and its
ancillary crimes.
In addition, my colleague Declan Hill blogged about his submission to the Think Tank.
Declan is highly regarded for his work against match fixing and sport
corruption. He is also an amateur boxer. In both regards, he pulls few
punches.
At its best, sport can be an unrivalled force
for good in the world. It can take bitter enemies and bring them
together as peers around a shared passion. It can champion equality of
opportunity in the pursuit of excellence. It can excite hope in the
midst of despair. There is a reason “the level playing field” has
become the universal metaphor for fairness and meritocracy.
But at its worse, sport can be little more
than a drug-addled carnival of false glory and mindless chauvinism. It
can be the currency for tyrants to buy a place at the table of
international affairs and thus a veneer of respectability. It can be
the pretext for kleptocrats to plunder their states and to brand their
critics as unpatriotic. It can be a tool to distract and stupefy
populations who might otherwise rise up against their oppressors.
The battle against doping and for integrity in
sport is one we must win, because the consequences of failure are
simply too tragic to contemplate.
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The world is waiting for a word to the wise from U.S. Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet Yellen. But some critics fear only radical solutions will get the bank out of its current tight spot. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)
