Sochi Dope Scandal: Investigating the Triggering Factors and Future Outcomes

Running Head: SOCHI DOPE SCANDAL
Sochi Dope Scandal
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1SOCHI DOPE SCANDAL
Doping in the Russian Sports has a very systematic nature. In this context, the doping
scandal in Sochin, Russia started all the way back in November 2014. The world’s governing
body of athletics provisionally suspends Russia from track and field competitions after the World
Anti-doping agency found evidence of state sponsored cheating (Kobierecki, 2016). As many as
389 Russian athletes were technically still heading to Rio but the track and field team were in
serious doubt. Skipping to the June of 2016, the International Olympic Committee or the IOC,
upholds the ban. This essay aims to investigate the triggering factors of the scandal with the
provided background and details in the case. Examining the probable causes that might have led
to what can be called one of the most spectacular scandals of the decade, the paper anticipates
the future outcomes of the controversy for the international reputation of Russia.
Reporters discussed how the IOC had set the bar a lot higher for the Russian athletes in
terms of dopex (Persson & Petersson, 2014). Any Russian athlete with a prior suspension for
dopamine cannot compete on the Olympics. A month later, the WADA publishes the McLaren
Report, recommending a blanket ban. This could mean than no Russian athletes were allowed to
participate in the game at Rio. The independent WADA report made it pretty clear that there
were state sponsored cover up in Russia, but what was more bothersome and scandalous is the
fact that the Sports Ministry ran this doping program and the cover up (Ruiz & Schwirtz, 2016).
Less than a week later the IOC decides not to ban the entire Russian team, guided by a
fundamental rule of the Olympic charter to protect the clean athletes. Instead, much to the anger
of WADA, they let the sport’s individual federation decide the fate of the sports association in
the country.
Russia has got a whole lot of political weight in the Olympics and they are unwilling to
accept the decision of the IOC because they are facing a much stricter ban relating to

2SOCHI DOPE SCANDAL
international relations and communal riots. Following the series of ban that eliminated the best of
the athletic lot of the nation, the percentage that survived was barely one-fourth of its original
strength. The official Sports Committee of the nation was already starting to worry about the
consequences of the fallout, given that Russia had historically been a well-recognized figure in
the world when it came to the game of Olympics. There are enough evidences to prove that the
system of Russia had made ample provisions to cover up thousands of sportsman desiring to
secure prestige and fame that will be paraded under nation’s name (Ruiz et al, 2018). The
motivation behind this outrage is vague but not inconclusive. Russia has always been known as a
nation that goes to extents for securing its national interests in the international forum (Glennon,
2013). Doping athletes for enhancing their performance was just another ploy for securing
another hold in the field of international sports (Schneider, 2018). It might have acquired them
some desirable benefits, acclaim and fame in the past, but the price they are now liable to pay is
too heavy to on the national interest of the country, especially for the dedicated sportsmen who
chose to play fair.
From what can be assessed based on the available information resources on the case, the
violations are rooted in the anti-doping lab of Russia. Doctors, financed by State Officials would
provide the athletes with steroids and substances that are banned worldwide, to enhance the
intensity of their performance. As per Kihl (2017) these doctors would switch the urine of these
intoxicated athletes with clean samples so that they are not caught during testing. The decision of
the IOC was announced after the final report provided by the Schmid Commission, which had
dedicated itself to finding out if the Russian Officials were carrying out an institutional
conspiracy within the sport ministry with the intention of corrupting the London Olympics of
2012. Schmid’s conclusion was rather dramatic, he suggested that there must have been a