Ski Chief Kasper: IOC Faces 'Lose-Lose' Decision on Russia

(ATR)International Ski Federation president Gian-Franco Kasper says the world of sport is in crisis, citingthe doping and bribery scandals and referencing the IOC's tough June 21 decision.

"The International Olympic Committee is facing a lose-lose situation... we will have to take a crucial decision not only in regard to the participation of the Russian track and field athletes, but also in regard to the NOC participation with all its athletes at the Rio Olympic Games," Kasper told the FIS Congress in Cancun, Mexico.

The IOC is holding a crunch meeting of Olympic stakeholders in Lausanne next Tuesday to consider the Rio Olympic implications of the IAAF's ruling on Russia this Friday. In Vienna, the IAAF Council will vote on whether to maintain or lift its ban on Russia in the wake of state-sponsored doping allegations.

Kasper said global sport and its governance had been given a bad name by a series of scandals not linked to skiing.

"Since we met in Barcelona we have concluded quite successful competition seasons with FIS, but on the other hand sports – not with skiing – have been found to have corrupt practices such as accepting bribes for votes, corruption and doping scandals," he saidin his address.

"Until now, sport has held a special place in the public’s mind. But it has changed and the real world has taken over. The public now consider sport not only as corrupt, but run by criminals who are not doing their jobs in a proper way."

Kasper said the problems facing world sport are: the reputation and credibility of sport organizations; doping and criminal behavior especially at FIFA and IAAF.

"There is no real proof yet in some cases, for example with the doping laboratory in Sochi, where an investigation is being carried out, but the damage has already been done – the media has already effectively decided the case," Kasper said.

"It started with the football [FIFA] scandal. It looks like the revelations are still not over, such as the latest ones where the leadership [Blatter, Valcke] awarded themselves illicit exorbitant bonus payments.The largest Olympic summer sports federation, athletics, has been badly damaged when it was uncoveredthat former president [Lamine Diack] manipulated the results of competitions by changing positive into negative doping results for high payments.

Kasper also noted the vote-buying allegations facing the Tokyo 2020 Olympic bid, which are currently the subject of separate French and Japanese investigations.

"The dreams about sport have been destroyed and I don’t believe they can be repaired so soon," he added. "Looking back to the IOC scandal which was nearly 20 years ago, this still affects the perception of the IOC as corrupt in the eyes of many persons."

FIS held its general assembly during the ski federation's bi-annual congress, held for the first time ever in Mexico, June 6-11.

Commenting on the Sochi 2014 doping allegations, Kasper said FIS was awaiting the outcome of the WADA investigation overseen by Richard McLaren. It will then evaluate and liaise with WADA and the IOC on whether further action is required.

"From the reports so far, only one skier is potentially implicated, but now all the samples from the Sochi Games will be re-analyzed to see if there are further findings," the ski federation chief told the congress.

Kasper also spoke about "collective responsibility and individual justice" related to doping, while emphasizing that FIS must maintain its position of zero tolerance.

In other news, the FIS Council also banned the use of oxygen tanks, hypoxic chambers and cryogenic chambers, or similar medical enhancements during FIS World Cups, world championships and other races on the FIS calendar.

A total of 17 members were elected for two-year terms to the FIS Council, including new members Dong-Bin Shin of Korea and the first-ever athlete representative – Swedish alpine skier Jessica Lindell-Vikarby.Sung Won Lee of Korea was made an honorary member after 16 years as a council member and serves as the key link to the PyeongChang 2018 Games.

The congress approved the affiliation of six new national ski associations - Afghanistan, Kosovo, Tonga, Uganda, Nigeria and Ecuador as associate members.Applications by the Mexican and Hong Kongfederations for full membership were also unanimously approved.

The 51st FIS Congress will be held in Greece in May 2018.

Reported by Brian Pinelli

20 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.