Sunday 31 July 2016

Russophobia and the Olympics

Politics and the Olympics should not mix!
Political cartoons by Aleksei Talimonov.

'The Greeks saw the ... event as an occasion to halt wars and come together in peace.' (USA Today, 4 Aug 2016)

The International Olympic Committee ‘was founded in 1894 on the belief that sport can contribute to peace and to the harmonious development of humankind.’ (Peace Through Sport)

The 6th Fundamental Principle of Olympism states:
Any form of discrimination with regard to a country or a person on grounds of race, religion, politics, gender or otherwise is incompatible with belonging to the Olympic Movement.
In recent years, however, Western negative bias has raised its ugly head, called Russophobia, and it seems to be obstructing the Olympic Movement.
Today, we see a dangerous return to this policy of letting politics interfere with sport. … to form a negative image of countries and peoples. The Olympic movement, which is a tremendous force for uniting humanity, ... without waiting for the official publication of the World Anti-Doping Agency’s commission, have hastened to demand that the entire Russian team be banned from taking part in the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. What is behind this haste? (Putin, V. ‘Statement in response to the report by the World Anti-Doping Agency’, Kremlin.ru, July 18, 2016)

 Rio 2016 reminds me of Russophobia in 1980

In 1980 as a photojournalist, I attended the Summer Olympics in Moscow boycotted by 65 countries because of the Soviet war in Afghanistan. I mourned that thousands of very disappointed athletes were prevented from participating.

In the 1970s, the USA was Russophobic and secretly working against the Soviet Union by funding Muslim warriors and al-Qaeda to block expansion of communism into Arab states. This funding created ISIL — Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant — ironically now the major enemy of the USA since the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The USA was not banned for meddling in the 1980 Olympics, nor was it banned for illegally invading Afghanistan in 2001 under the NATO banner. The USA banned itself, leading 64 other countries, to not participate in our traditional peaceful friendship meeting of people from around the world.

Today Western countries are again active in propagandizing against Russia in any and every way including anti-Russia news releases, cartoons, economic blockades (sanctions), and public policies. This is Russophobia in action.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), headquarters in Montreal, Canada, wanted all Russian athletes banned from Rio 2016; but it was overruled by the International Olympic Committee which decided:
… according to the rules of … justice … to which every human being is entitled... each … athlete must be given the opportunity to … (prove) … his or her individual case.
Despite the strict ruling, 271 (70%) of 389 Russian athletes have been cleared by the IOC and declared 'the cleanest team'.

But these strict rules for Russians don't apply to others just as guilty — Russia misses out while former drug cheats take their place in Rio, RT Novosti, 30 Jul, 2016.

My point is that the USA press propaganda spins this story of injustice (1) negative, while the Russians try to spin it (2) positive.
  1. More Than 110 Russian Athletes Barred From Rio (based on unsubstantiated claims and Cold War rhetoric)
  2. Russia says 272 athletes approved for Rio Olympics
Though Russophobia still exists, I am glad that justice prevailed, and Russia is welcomed to Rio 2016.


Testing

A fool-proof testing plan is in place for the Russian athletes, which some argue is still not fair because (a) any athlete with a previous doping record is banned even if they are now tested ‘clean’; and (b) on the average, the rate of Russian doping is 19th (see table* below left) compared to all countries.

The data shows that 18 countries score a higher rate of violations, with no extra testing required. That is a double standard. The most egregious is Iran, with an average score of 9.5% compared to Russia at less than 1% (0.91%), a little worse than Canada (0.77%) and the USA (0.71%).
* Table source is cited as on the WADA website, without dates. So far we have found the data.

The table (above right) in a report covering 44 years of doping (1968-2012) shows Russia/ USSR were assessed 10 times for doping, compared to 8 for USA and 1 for Canada. Why aren't Austria and Greece in the news? The tables and sources are in: Doping Cases at the Olympics, 1968-2012, ProCon.org, 21 Sept 2011.

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