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Thursday’s ruling in Cas saw the court shorten the sentence handed down by the international anti-doping agency Wada against the Russian anti-doping organization Rusada from four to two years.
This means that Russia, as a country, will not be able to participate, for example, in the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Tokyo next summer and the Olympic Winter Games in Beijing 2022. Pure athletes, who have undergone the appropriate doping tests , they can compete, but then they must do so under a neutral flag.
Russia is also prohibited from participating in and hosting world championships and therefore will not be allowed to play in the FIFA World Cup in Qatar 2022.
Sebastian Samuelsson.
Photo: Bildbyrån
The star of Swedish biathlon Sebastian Samuelsson, who has been involved in the fight for pure sport and has often criticized Russia, believes that it is good that Russia remains suspended, but does not believe that the shorter sentence is justified.
– It seems that the problem with this is that Russia has been sanctioned and punished before without taking the matter seriously. So they feel like they have to put on the hard gloves and show that they can’t continue like this if they want to participate, and therefore the punishment could have been more severe, Samuelsson says.
In a statement, Cas believes that a slightly shorter sentence should facilitate the change of Russian sports culture and “encourage the next generation of Russian athletes to participate in purely international sports.” Samuelsson questions the argument.
– I do not know why it would be easier just because it is a shorter punishment, but the point is good, that you have to make sure to clean up the Russian leaders who have remained year after year with the same system. Hopefully they take this seriously, says Samuelsson.
It was after that the so-called McLaren report in 2015 found Russia to be guilty of state-controlled doping and extensive cheating at the Sochi Olympics, that the country was suspended. In 2018, they were welcomed, but after Wada found evidence that the doping lab in Moscow tampered with the test data, the Russians were shut down again in December last year.
Rusada had demanded that the suspension be rejected. The organization recently fired its boss, Yuri Ganus, following accusations of embezzlement from Rusada.
The Swedish anti-doping nest Arne Ljungqvist, who for many years served on Wada’s council, has been in close contact with Ganus recently and says he worked hard to get Russia accepted by Wada again.
– Ganus tried to get closer to Wada and I had the impression that things were improving. I can think that it was not entirely successful to get it out when it seemed to go in the direction Wada wanted, says Ljungqvist, who hopes Russia will learn a lesson but at the same time thinks the suspension is boring.
– This hurts both Russia and world sports. Russia is a great sports power and it’s no fun that they are not involved. The most injured are all Russian athletes, says Ljungqvist.
Do you think the Russians will learn their lesson?
– We can really hope so, says Ljungqvist.
Sebastian Samuelsson I think cleaning the bathroom will take time.
– So far, they haven’t shown much to indicate they want to change, given what happened last fall. But in the long run, I think Russia will clean up and have a cleaner sport than it has today. I have to believe that, says Samuelsson.
Thursday’s ruling only affects the world championships. This means that Russia will be able to participate and host the European Football Championship this summer. Four games are scheduled to be played in St. Petersburg.
