So finally, the suspense is over and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has suspended the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) from 2018 Olympics, ruling that “clean” Russian athletes can only compete under a neutral flag in South Korea in February. Since I am going to be asked about this I might as well give you my reaction to this latest development.
First, I really don’t care about sports or the Olympics. Let me rephrase that: I like sports, but not the mega-business around watching sports. Second, I don’t really see why athletes should represent countries, that kind of cheapo feel-like-a-victor pseudo-patriotism is not my cup of tea. Third, I am not naive to the point of thinking the all-prevailing corruption in Russia would not affect any Russian athlete and that it is unthinkable that any of them might have used banned substances. However, it is also equally obvious to me that
- The IOC is a tool in the hands of the AngloZionist Empire which uses it to humiliate Russia
- That there is no evidence whatsoever that doping in Russia is any worse than in any other country or that the ROC or the authorities somehow organized and managed the doping of Russian athletes.
- By not singling out any convicted athlete but by slamming a collective punishment on all Russian athletes the IOC and its bosses are really trying to stigmatize Russia as a whole and everything Russian
Next, I think that the Kremlin’s reaction only makes things worse: Peskov has just announced that Putin personally has decided not to boycott the Olympics. That is an extremely unwise decision not only because it makes Russia look guilty and weak, but because it now places the burden of responsibility on deciding whether to be an active participant in the humiliation of Russia upon every individual Russian athlete. Very bad call! I am afraid that most of them will go for all sorts of more or less understandable reasons which they will eventually regret. After all, athletes are trained in their sports and not to access the political implications of their actions.
I am sure that many will disagree with me, but I believe that a total boycott by Russian of the next Olympics is the least bad solution. I would even recommend that the Kremlin organize a competition in Moscow not to try to match the immense commercial, social and political magnitude of the official Olympics in Seoul, but just to let the Russian athletes not only show their best, but to show the bastards at the IOC that they don’t “own” sports.
None of that will happen, I know.
In the meantime, here is a quick look at the main sponsors of the IOC:
and, just to complete the picture, here the list of the folks who currently compose the IOC:
Mr Thomas BACH, Germany
Mr Zaiqing YU, China
Mr Juan Antonio SAMARANCH, Spain
Prof. Ugur ERDENER. Turkey
Ms Anita L. DEFRANTZ, USA
Mrs Gunilla LINDBERG, Sweden
Mr Gian-Franco KASPER, Switzerland
Mrs Angela RUGGIERO,USA
Mr Sergey BUBKA, Ukraine
Mr Ser Miang NG, Singapore
Mr Willi KALTSCHMITT LUJÁN, Guatemala
Dr Robin E. MITCHELL, Fiji
Mrs Nicole HOEVERTSZ, Aruba
Mr Denis OSWALD, Switzerland
Except for one lonely Chinese (does anybody know how he voted?) – the rest are all representatives of the Empire or of its colonies. QED.
That’s all I have to say. I am disgusted beyond words, mostly by the deafening silence from a world where Russia truly has very few friends. That’s okay – we are used to that. But it still is disgusting.
The Saker
I agree, but take real issue with the “All prevailing corruption” of Russia….. any English speaker is from a far more corrupt country than anywhere on earth.
Putin’s choice
https://www.facebook.com/alexander.brodsky.9/posts/10209561353821858?pnref=story
Considering Flynn’s plea deal, Putin is faced with the same kind of choice as Saint Tsar Nicholas II did in December-January 1917:
1. To resign and watch his Motherland be destroyed, and then to be most definitely killed along with his family; or
2. To be elected for the fourth time and be ready to press the red button, with very little chance to succeed in using this threat to save his country and his family; and should he fail, to face the charge at the Last Judgment of killing several billion people, with only one way to save himself – by proving that the war was started by the United States.
Also Olympics were designed in 1930-s for the Third Reich by offspring of the Forth Crusade “heroes”
https://communismgr.blogspot.ru/2016/08/olympic-games-and-fascism-olympic.html
>>Memory of courage, because courage was necessary to overcome the difficulties’ Führer met having posed the request “Wir wollen bauen!” (“We want to build!”), and to confront the disloyal and perfidious attacks that try to stop the progressive creative enterprise (referring to the boycott of the Berlin Games). Finally, memory of hope, because understanding stronger than death itself was forged under the symbolical flag with the five circles… “Freude, Tochter aus…” (The opening words of Schiller’s “Ode of Joy” which was a part of “the artistic programme” at the Berlin opening). The history and the struggle will continue, but science will gradually replace the dangerous ignorance; mutual understanding will replace blind hatred. Thus the building I built for half a century will be consolidated. And you, athletes, do not forget the flame lit by the Sun, brought to you from Olympia to light our epoch. Guard it deep in your souls, to make it reappear at the other end of the world, in four years time, when we shall celebrate the XII Olympics at the faraway shores of the great Pacific.<<
So, Olympics were founded to embody same ideals, as were embodied by Therd Reich and their allies in Japan.
So, when anti-nazi Russia dares to host Olympics – be it in 1980 or in 2014 – it is seen as blasphemy against their holy nazi beliefs. And that is why they go ballistic to punish Russia for that daring heresy, both in 1984 and 2018
We can hope that the snotty, childish behavior of some American athletes towards those-who-shall-not-be-named competitors which happened in Brazil will not be repeated in these Olympics.
However, if it does happen, these actions should be broadcast world wide. And the host country should take measures to make sure that the Olympic organizers punish the perpetrators. There is no excuse for poor sportsmanship and bullying.
It would be so wonderful if the audience would show special solidarity for those athletes that do show up under such ostracism and implied threat. Maybe the athletes can stand in silence for the time that the-shall-not-be-named anthem would have been played and then everyone in the crowd can whip out their cell phones and play it.
oh the possibilities are endless.
There will be no silence when the proper anthem should have been played, they will play the “Olympic hymn” to really rub it in who are the masters everybody has to bow before, and this is what pisses me off worst (along with the compulsory dressing the Russian athletes up in the “Olympic” dress, so that everybody can witness how they have to humiliate themselves to be allowed to compete).
And I have no hope about how the audience will behave, not because of “ordinary” people, but because of trolls (paid or unpaid) starting chants or booing. Read in MSM and you will understand how much hate has been been stirred up against the Russians, among sports journalists and unintelligent fans of other athletes. To much is at stake here for the Empire, they would never allow the Russians to win the hearts of the public.
The Russian athletes who decide to participate need to have a very strong psyche to not be crushed by the hate they will meet. I know that they have very much inner strength, both as athletes and Russians, I just hope that that will be enough.
But in the end, passing through this mental gauntlet will make these Russian athletes stronger than ever, and that strength will come in handy the coming years when things will heat up even more towards Russia. They will inspire Russians to fight even harder, and become invincible in all areas, be it military or civilian life. They will not lose.
Surely decision of letting athletes do the thinking whether take part or not is ”false”. Every decision is false – the question is only ”from whose point of view?”. But to deny athletes to participate would not only be far more false but worse, as well, for number of reasons:
To boycott winter Olympics would have heated the msm and western hyenas in such a glow that it would have been impossible to argue against in a civilized manner.
And one other important reason is South Korea. No writer has touched this obvious outcome. Even though US ”owns” South Korea – nicely said ‘they are allies’ – South Korea and Russia have a very interesting and important relationship (huge strategic and commercial relationship: Computing, electronics, machines, components to military industries usw…)
Putin and head Russian strategists know that South Korea is going to take every Russian athlete – with IOC or Russian outfits – with most warmly welcome. Russia-South Korea relationship is absolutely too precious to jeopardize. It would inevitable lead to bad taste in the mouth of South Korea if Russians were to boycott the game and on the contrary case it is huge PR for Russians in the eyes of South Koreans to show up in Pyeongchang – even under IOC humiliation. The seriousness and readiness to organize good games In South Korea can not be underestimated for the Koreans point of view.
Summary: Putin did the right thing – again
I’d just ignore it. Amp things up in other areas though. Maybe get a little nasty with some of these office monkeys (in a lawful way). They really think they’re special. They think this because the civil society protects them. Russia is too civil. Too nice. Not Russian enough, that is. Remember Mangela came into Russia 6 months ago, and expressed concern over non-existent homosexuals in Chechnya? Putin tried to defend and deny. He should have had his pet dogs ready to pay the old dyke a friendly visit.
Office monkey types get to thinking they can say and do whatever. Yet their knees start buckling, their lips quivering, when you indicate to them barbarism could return, very shortly. We’re not talking threats here. Just make them see life outside their work.
Some people suggest an innocent man adamantly defends himself against false charges. That’s not reality, and a really stupid thing to tell people. Real lawyers, smart ones, tell you to “start speaking chinese” if accused of anything. When falsely charged, defending yourself makes you sound guilty, especially when a lunatic makes the charge. Russia has been accused, by the Easter Bunny, of stealing a warehouse full of chocolate bunnies. Think of how stupid you look while defending yourself, Russia. When you try to reason with nutjobs you lose. There are other plays available. Change the game.
I cannot concur with the Saker on this. In my view, Putin made the correct judgement. (There is a reason why Putin is the preeminent statesman of the world). In my view, Russia should give full support to its athletes. Every victory, every victory ceremony will be a winner Russia. For every Russian victory, the IOC will have embarrassed themselves. The sympathy will be with the Russian athletes, not only from the crowd, but also with their competitors. Putin, being a sportsman himself, knows how much this means to an athlete. He is showing his humanistic side. To those who say that this is a humiliation to Russia: remember that Russia is the preeminent Christian nation. For the Christian, humiliation is an honor. Even the Lord was humiliated, but in the end He won.
Ha that’s nothing in comparison what is still to come ! Just wait, the next step they make will be to ban the Russian soccer team from the World Cup next year in Russia or something similarly damaging. You can bet on it, it’s far to great an opportunity for the Empire to miss.
We know how things work and what type of game is beig played out. How long did it take until Mister Universe and super clean Lance Armstrong was convicted !!?. Everyone in the Business knew what was going on. Or Carl Lewis for instance who was doped when Ben Johnson (a Canadian) was convicted, Lewis got the medal.
If they are checked, ALWAYS after their career had already ended, they enjoyed very,very powerful protection.
Somehow the Russians are not able to get their act together. How can it be that a substance like Meldonium which very obviously is not doping can enter the list, and yet the Russians are doing nothing about it, they are wide open to any attack by the Empire.
The IOC are just corrupt filth.
I propose a mass email campaign by Russian patriots and their friends worldwide.
Bombard the sponsors with complaints. Say you will boycott their goods and services. Why not even refuse to do business with them.(Note nearly all of them are USA based – with the rest(except one) all being cronies of the USA.
We must say that the IOC is racist against Russia and persecuting a whole country under a pretext that is a pack of lies
https://futuristrendcast.wordpress.com/2017/12/05/like-rice-without-kimchi-or-football-without-spain-s-koreans-on-potential-russia-ban-from-2018-olympics/.
This blog seems to give a good account of it.
Its the US and USA etc that should be given the bans for their smear campaign vs Russia. Also for blatant cheats like Simone Biles, the Williams sisters, the British cycling team, Mo Farah’s cheating coach etc etc.
The “therapeutic use exemption” is merely a device for NATO member states to cheat as much as they can.
(I’m a British citizen BTW).
Sport should be about sport and a meeting of nations. NOT inciting innocent countries, peddling hate or lies.
The USA should be permanently excluded from the IOC.
Release all the files on “therapeutic use exemption” Russia.
The British press know that its just a license to cheat by NATO cronies esp USA and Britain.
Even British athletes have admitted to being bullied into taking drugs – ie the Team Sky cycling team.
And you only need to LOOK to see how Biles and the Williams sisters are as bad as Lance Armonstrong.
Yet completely innocent Masha Sharapova is being persecuted and harrassed by these criminals.
Russia start your own Olympic’s. Let the world come to you, because you have the best sports men and women on this earth.
I don’t know whether it would be wise for Russia to boycott the olympics. At least it has the option to do so or to participate. It is a relevant global PR issue, and as Saker observed correctly, the war against Russia is still predominately a media war. So keeping the options open my be a very good idea.
Anyway, the decision on Russia’s participation is an interesting one. I am quite sure that the empire aimed at an outright ban for Russians’ athletes. They didn’t got it, and that’s the interesting issue. An outright ban would have been quite irreversably, simply for organisational reasons. Switching the neutral banner to the Russian one ist just a blip. Seems the Olympic’s decision makers looked for a way to meet the extortion by the empire and still keep their options open as well.
And then, about the key “witness”, “Whistle blower”. What a Character!!
“The strange thing is that Rodchenkov has been accusing others of what he himself has done in the most egregious way.
As the head of the WADA-approved Moscow anti-doping laboratory, Grigory Rodchenkov was responsible for tampering with the samples of Russian athletes and developing a three-drug cocktail of banned substances that he mixed with liquor and sold for personal profit to Russian athletes that competed in the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. According to an investigator with Moscow City court, he prescribed many of these drugs as ‘vitamins’ to unwitting athletes. For years prior to this, Rodchenkov and his sister Marina also ran a sideline selling PEDs (Performance Enhancing Drugs) to anyone else who was willing to pay. In 2011, the two Rodchenkovs were arrested and found guilty of drug dealing. Marina spent 18 months in prison while Grigory escaped jail time by claiming insanity and spending time in the Kashchenko psychiatric hospital.
In 2015, two ‘whistle-blowers’, former Russian 800m runner Yuliya Stepanov and her husband, interviewed and recorded Rochenkov, without his knowledge, where he talked about doping at the Sochi Olympics. In February 2016, allegedly ‘fearing for his safety’, Rodchenkov fled to the USA, where he is currently part of a witness protection program. The Stepanovs are also ensconced somewhere in the Land of the Free.
Rodchenkov’s allegations were the basis of the two part World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) report authored by Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren that led to all Russian track-and-field athletes being banned from the summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, and to the recent blanket-ban for the upcoming winter games in PyeongChang. But as ITV Sports editor Steve Scott put it last month, the report didn’t even come close to establishing “beyond reasonable doubt”. Ninety-five out of 96 cases Russian athletes under investigation by WADA were shut down because “there was not sufficient evidence to pursue an anti-doping violation”. Given his criminal history, it is not surprising that Rodchenkov has attempted to implicate ‘the Kremlin’ in what was likely a criminal scheme largely of his own making.
A couple of days ago, Russian NTV aired extracts of a video where Rodchenkov reveals details that you won’t find in any Western media coverage of the ‘Russian doping’ story. In one video Rodchekov says that he “does not care about the fight against doping” and plans to “destroy all Olympic sports of Russia for the next five years!” In another video he admits that he’s a “terrible person” who has “sold his soul”and has “[committed] all sins except pedophilia, homosexuality and drug trafficking.” He goes on to boast that his “expensive” apartment in Los Angeles and latest-model Infiniti sports car “are paid for” in full. By whom, he does not say, but we can easily imagine.”
https://www.sott.net/article/370414-The-US-Inspired-Olympic-Ban-on-Russia-Another-Pyrrhic-Victory-for-the-Ailing-Empire-of-Chaos
https://www.sott.net/article/370130-I-ll-destroy-all-Russian-Olympic-sports-for-next-5-years-shocking-statements-of-a-runaway-WADA-informant
https://www.rt.com/sport/411896-rodchenkov-wada-informant-confessions/
Kent
Agree with you.
And the flag under which Russians are allowed to compete is not “neutral”, it is white. White. How symbolical!
R
Mr Putin is giving hard-working athletes the chance to compete. The West has lost the initiative of creating chaos in Russia. Fools. Mr Putin’s patriotism is perfect. A wise move. Mr Saker you are sometimes too emotional. Relax the Boss has got your back.
I am glad that Russia has been banned from what has always been a political event. I hope the Russian government will be smart enough to leave permanently the IOC.
In the USA, the “kneeling” nonsense is in the process of killing the NFL and the broadcasting media that has overpaid. The Olympic movement will suffer a similar fate in due course.
Hmm. Perhaps all the Russian athletes could compete under the Syrian flag. Now *that* would be serving it right back to the AngloZionist meddlers.
What a good suggestion, though is it possible? Another thing is all Russian competitors could make the Sign of the Cross during award ceremonies. That would really get up the noses of the Anglozionists and gets around the ban on Russian paraphernalia. Let them worm around the right to religious freedom.
In addition to boycotting the Olympics, Russia should also try to persuade their “partners” to join the boycott. Start with the BRICS. And maybe start something like the Eurasian Invitational Championship Games with all countries in the designated geographic area automatically entered and all others allowed based on an athlete by athlete basis OR by invitation only OR ????. The petty and child like behavior shown towards Russia from the occupied so called western countries is really embarassing and quite tiresome.
Putin should boycott the Olympics ! And cripple IOC’s winter “festival” financially. Because of proximity to North Korea there is no better opportunity to do so.
Documentary from RT
Dope. The New Cold War
There are athletes that WADA allows to use therapeutic drugs. For example, since 1992, 70% of Norway’s Olympic medals have been won by asthmatics on medication. But Russian sportsmen with similar conditions have been prohibited from taking the same medicine, being told ‘if they’re ill, they shouldn’t do sports’. This and other paradoxes are exposed in our new documentary Dope: the New Proxy War
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1YQ094HG5SU
Boycott the Olympics, and sign petitions to their corporate sponsors to boycott their products unless they exert pressure on the IOC to stop playing politics.The best way to put pressure on the IOC is to pressure their sponsors – to start a petition drive for signatures to these sponsors that we are boycotting their products if the IOC excludes the athletes from any nation. Keep politics out of the Olympics. The worldwide sponsors of the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeong Chang are: Coco Cola, Atos, Bridgestone, Dow, GE Intel, Omega, Panasonic, PG&E, Samsung, Toyota, VISA. I have never done this, so if anyone is savvy enough to create a page which would ask for signatures on petitions to these corporations to make their support of the games conditional on no athletes being excluded based on which country they are from, or are representing. I don’t know how to do this. Can anyone rise to the occasion?
Russia is belted so many times because russua shows herself a weakling before bulkying anglosaxon enemies who respect strength only.
Russia is to blame for all timidity shown in dinbass in ceasefire of feb 2015 and ceasefire of feb 2016 in syria..
That comvinced anglo enemies that russia is too coward to protect her honour.
I agree fully with you saker. Except in one point: Russia has many friends, we are a lot of women an men around the world who love Russia, her policy, her deep culture and spirit. We maybe don’t always understand her ways but we love it from a true heart.
This decision is disgusting yes, but it is in my opinion just a minor issue in the path of real success that Russia is on her way.
Truth will win, always!
Russia’s list of friends is growing by the hour, not by nations, although there may be one or two, but with ordinary people who are beginning to wake up to the reality of the empire of the deep state, and I believe the Russians know this. Western governments around the world, like mine in Australia, are being shown as corrupt vassals of the deep state time and time again. The continued failings of the mainstream media, the fall in profits, the sacking of employees, not to mention the utter crap that they dish out all point to desperation amongst the elite. Sources like RT, Sputnik, PressTV, CGTN, et al, are gaining in popularity as the lies and corruption of the deep state are being revealed.
Regrettably, the sheeple of the world still outnumber us, and I guess they always have, but even some of them are beginning to look beyond their delusional bubbles. We can only hope that enough of them will wake up to the truth!
The next target is DEFINITELY the FIFA World Cup next year. I am beginning to lose track of the anti-Russian hate-mongering of the usual suspects in the Western fakestream media sewer. The worst are the BBC vermin (apologies to cockroaches)and, of course, the insane Gadarene swine who infest the rotting corpse that was the ‘Guardian’ before Soros et al took over. There the hatred is, as so often in this evil rag, truly deranged. Apparently football will be desecrated if the Cup goes ahead, in the corrupt state that is Russia, where all footballers, like all athletes, are daily injected, personally, by the vile dictator, Putin. If they cannot get a boycott going, difficult to imagine given football’s unique popularity, I suspect they’ll go for a tourist boycott, and, failing that, some terrorist attacks from their Daash and al-Qaeda friends. Their hatred is so insanely vicious that they are capable of ANYTHING.
I beg to disagree.
We have one world community, one UN and one IOC. And Russia is part of that and fulfills its role as a good world citizen as good as it can. That is Putin’s policy and I agree with that. Just as you don’t quit the UN when it adopts an anti-Russian resolution you don’t quit the Olympic Games because of some anti-Russian decision.
Look also at what happened in 1980/1984. I bet that at the State Department they were very happy that in “retaliation” for the 1980 boycot of the Moscow games Russia chose to boycott the 1984 games. It meant just more marginalization of Russia – exactly what the US wanted.
So just keep your head up. Explain your position and your disagreement with the decision. And keep yourself in the game.
Breaking News! Russia organizes its olympics without U.S.A and Europe – Mariya Zakharova
Russian video – English subtitle available
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeyT2LGWni0
South Korea is Putin’s objective. Bringing South Korea out of US orbit is a key FP goal. The Olympics as such are a waste of time and South Korea is being shafted by Trump at every opportunity – it is humiliating for South Korea.
Grossly unfair to Russia and its athletes.
Proves the IOC is just another puppet agency of Globalist forces.
The real test will come with the Football World Cup to be staged in Russia next year. There are those who would attempt to move mountains to get Russia banned, but this will be a more difficult nut to crack for the Anglo-Zionists since the US and Israel are small fry in the beautiful game. The big fish are ensconced in Latin America, (western) Europe and to a certain extent Africa. We shall see.
I agree that it is not very nice of the Olympic committee not to include the Russians, but I disagree that Russia is humiliated. It seems to me that the western world has humiliated itself. We look like fools. Most of us know that it is not because of doping that Russia has been refused entry to the Olympic games but because the West is a collective, mean, bully. It also seems to me that Mr. Putin, by showing up there, is saying, “ok, now you can all look at me; I am in your face: you can all realise that my country is not permitted to be here – and all walk around and say hello or whatever you say and we all know that you have not permitted the athletes of Russia to compete.” I do agree with you that the Russians and any countries willing to do so might want to organise a “non-olympic olympic event”. Athletes love to compete and somebody will come. In my opinion, the Russians can almost be proud of their exclusion. Look at the power they have. It also seems to me that the best revenge is living well. Since the west – mostly the USA – has really put the screws to the Russians in any way they can the Russians have calmly proceeded to make trade deals, treaties, many kinds of affiliations with other countries, excluding the USA. The USA is the loser – this makes the USA even more of a laughingstock because we elected this so-called uber businessman. Ha.
I too am disgusted, a pure power play without any ethical foundation, I can only protest by not watching…all the sponsors are already on my “do not buy” list for other reasons.
Who imagines that in eventual fact it is the empire that boycotts the oly?
I imagine he’s right about that…
The arena is in Korea…
Now we shall see a fake olympics to go with fake news and fake diplomacy…and what about fake war?
War is not fake…
In my lifetime, I’ve seen the Olympics become more and more of a joke.
Didn’t watch much of the London Olympics last time. Kinda kept meaning to turn it on, but before I knew it thankfully the games had concluded. About the only winter sport I enjoy is the hockey turnament, and now the NHL has given that a death blow and kicking out the Russian team completely buries any interest the tournament might have. I like ski racing too, but there’s already too many races to take the time to follow and its thus easy to forego the Olympics.
I agree with the Saker that athlete’s should not promote their countries. You see silly competitions from this system. If the best 10,000 meter runners are all from Ethopia and Kenya, then why aren’t the best allowed to compete but instead we get a limit of only 3 per country. Same with hocky, why am I watching bad teams from a lovely country like Italy when a second Candian or Russian team would destroy them.
The ‘athletes representing their country’ scheme to me just seems like cheap hucksterism. I grew up in miner league towns where sports promoters tried every trick in the book to sell a couple of tickets. The Olympics just seem like the same minor league style sports promoters pulling cheap tricks to sell some tickets. With the added con-game of huge construction contracts for stadiums that often are only used once.
Any country or city should strongly object to being robbed anytime local leaders start talking about hosting an Olympics or World Cup. And they gotten to the point where they really aren’t worth watching. If anyone does find anything of interest, then that sport certainly has a long season of events that one can see without all the nonsense that goes with the Olympics.
Russia and China need to organize some BRIC-games. Work hard to keep it fair and honest, which alone would seperate it from most sports in the western world these days.
Oh, and make it invitation only. BRIC countries invited of course, and can invite others. But inviting countries like the US and UK and others is just inviting the serpent into the tent. The best way to have a fair and honest competition is when those countries ignore the games and their presstitudes stay far away.
USA: ‘No Russians allowed because the world is OURS!’
According to the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) most recent results (2014), the leading sports doping offenders are as follows: Russia (148), Italy (123), India (96), Belgium (91), France (91), Turkey (73), Australia (49), China (49), Brazil (46) and South Korea (43).
What hasn’t been made clear is that these figures encompass all sports, not just Olympic sports. As an example, of Australia’s 49 offenses, 20 of them came in Rugby League. Should that be used in deciding whether or not to ban Australia from competing in the Olympics? Obviously not.
What also hasn’t been made clear is that it is irrelevant to look at the absolute number of transgressions of any nation in making a decision on whether or not to impose a ban. We would expect the US, for example, to have a much higher number of athletes caught doping than Fiji because the US has far more athletes than that tiny nation. Likewise, it makes sense that Russia would have more athletes caught doping than, say, Bolivia.
The actual numbers
When we look at doping offenses by countries in Olympic sports, and the number of athletes they send to the Olympics, we find the following:
Italy: 104 offenses with 284 athletes; Russia: 91 offenses with 436 athletes; India: 67 offenses with 83 athletes; France: 50 offenses with 330 athletes; China: 46 offenses with 396 athletes; Turkey: 35 offenses with 114 athletes; Brazil: 31 offenses with 258 athletes; Iran: 29 offenses with 53 athletes; South Africa: 27 offenses with 125 athletes; Belgium: 25 offenses with 115 athletes.
Do the math yourself; by these official numbers, Italy has the most offenses, and from a smaller pool of athletes than Russia. India has a higher rate of offenses than Russia, as does Turkey and Iran. Meanwhile, South Africa and Belgium have virtually the same rate of positive doping as Russia.
https://www.sott.net/article/370414-The-US-Inspired-Olympic-Ban-on-Russia-Another-Pyrrhic-Victory-for-the-Ailing-Empire-of-Chaos
Seems any decision will have its lose/lose aspect of it. If the Russians go, they will be subjected to derision by the crowds as they were in the last Olympics and used as propaganda props as when the swimmer Lily King called Yuliya Efimova a “drug cheat”. You can bet some American will try that grandstand in the face of a Russian to gain fame and of course more endorsements.. And as one poster stated, the most watched events are decided by judges. Will the most elegant of figure skaters have a chance?
If the Russians don’t go, they will be accused of being pathetic athletes without drugs. Too cowardly. The ruling to kick them out of the Olympics was actually correct and every clean Russian will be banned for the rest of their best years. But in this case, the Russians will not be daily propaganda foils.
It also looks like the Russian xenophobes want to ban Russian athletes from all international sports.I suspect for the most part that will succeed for a few years.
Tough situation with no easy answers.
It is very hard to say what is the best response in this situation, but I hope that Russia will survive and win. Consequences of Gorbacov stupidity and Jeltsin incompetency is really hard to overcome.
In the future Russia can expect just more nad more attacks and provocations and problem is that USA imperialists have control over all organizations and institutions such as IOC.
Also, one day Putin will leave and it is big question what will happen after that. Empire will never stop attacking.
Russia is going to have very hard times. ANglosaxon dominated West hate Russia demonically. I hope Russia win, because Russia is only hope of this world. The world under absolute USA dictatorship would be world of terror and horror.
One of the most Rabid Russian haters is Don Cherry the clown that comments during NHL games. He has this shtick dressing up in weird suits and talking about Hockey. He hates Russians that is clear from everything he says about Russian players. He went to Sochi and came back saying how impressed he was with the organization, the city and the people. In his reptilian mind he saw Russians through his propaganda mind that is a trait of western ignorance.
In the 1972 Russia Canada serious I was in the audience in Vancouver the Score was 7-2 for team Russia despite the fact that team Canada did everything but play hockey. Young Russian players skated circles around us while we used hooligan tactics against them. Frank Mahovlich had Tretiak, the Russian goalie, pined at the blue line for almost a minute and no penalty. In another game they broke Kharlamov’s leg because they could not skate with him.
There is a history of this. They even kidnapped a Russian athlete in Calgary Alberta claiming he defected. After the media had their fill the man was found but no one mentioned the kidnapping.
Forge a New Road Russia,China and Friends
Likely, the IOC is part of the SWAMP–nothing more than a political institution filled with NeoCONS. DRAIN THEM TOO!
the Saker is right on this: there should be a Russian Boycott. not only a boycott of the upcoming games, but Russia should begin developing an alternative games to all forms of the olympics..which are really financial games for enslaving the ordinary people of nations to big debt.
I remain incredulous at the really, truly ‘good boy’ behavior of Russia in the face of total western, in your face disrespect. why I keep asking myself does not Russia stand up for real, fight back on the same level? what is Russia afraid of..or waiting for?
If there is a single theme for our age then it is that democracy has died – i.e. that our “leaders” no longer represent the people. (Fourth turnings, general disillusionment, growing wealth inequality, etc).
If you do not have that at the forefront of your thinking then I believe that you (and the Saker) are in danger of misreading this particular situation. There is actually something very Libertarian about Russia not boycotting the Olympics. I doubt many people would nominate Russia as a country which stands up for the rights of individuals, yet this is exactly what they are actually doing here. If a large number of Russians compete in these games under a neutral flag and many still win then it demonstrates several things – (i) that there are many “clean” Russian atheletes (so why the ban on Russia?), (ii) clean Russian atheletes are still amongst, or are, the best in the world, (iii) that the sanctions may just be a political act!
The world is growing increasingly tired of politcians telling us what to do! People all over the West are desperate for leaders who do the things we need them to do (i.e. to fight for OUR long term interests – not their short term ones!); leaders who aren’t on a power trip (i.e. who leave us alone in all other respects). I think there is a LOT of good will to be gained here by a Russian leadership not playing political games in this case – i.e. which does not politicise things (by boycotting) and which allows people (atheletes) to get on with what they have worked hard for years to achieve. It demonstrates a government that is NOT authoritarian and which appear to support individual freedom. This is actually the opposite of what people increasingly feel in the West! Russia has a great opportunity here to behave as the kind of government that people in the West are desperate for.
I think this is a really, really shrewd move. It makes the governments of the West seem like the authoritarians, and Russia seem like it stands up for liberty!
Rodchenkov is sole source of these claims . He’s called a ‘truthful witness ‘ by IOC panel . But how do they know ? They said that because Rodchenkov truthfulness would by questioned.
Imagine if Assange went to
Russia . He would be called an agent of russia . Rodchenkov fled to US , so im calling him a US agent