Germany wants Russian Olympic Games ban for 2018 and 2020 in case of state doping
Committee chief Alfons Hoermann calls for “drastic correction” as World Anti-Doping Agency exposes huge scale systematic doping and cover-ups in the country
A ban of Russia from the 2018 winter Olympics and possibly the 2020 Tokyo summer Games should be considered if there was state-run doping in the country, Germany’s Olympic Committee chief Alfons Hoermann said on Sunday.
Leaders of 19 anti-doping agencies also called for a blanket ban on Russia from all international sport with the second part of Richard McLaren’s report for the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) exposing the huge scale of state-sponsored, systematic doping and cover-ups in the country.
“There needs to a drastic correction of the course. Major sanctions are now needed, there is no doubt about that. There has to be a clear signal,” Hoermann told die Welt newspaper.
“Should it be confirmed that there was state doping in Russia and that the Russian Olympic Committee violated the IOC Charter then for me a complete ban of the entire Olympic team for Pyeongchang 2018 and possibly Tokyo 2020 should be an issue for the IOC.”
Russian track and field athletes were already prohibited from travelling to the Rio de Janeiro Olympics last year over the doping affair.
But the International Olympic Committee (IOC) stopped short from banning the entire Russian Olympic team despite mounting calls to do so, in the end allowing close to 300 athletes, who were cleared by their international federations, to compete.