The International Olympic Committee's compromise on Russian eligibility in the upcoming Rio Games, announced Sunday, is guaranteed to satisfy the fewest number of people. It punts responsibility to each sport's international federation on an absurdly compressed timetable, further complicating a Summer Olympics already beset with problems.
With the torch lighting in 11 days, here are some takeaways from the ruling:
The IOC's decision underscores how badly broken global anti-doping and sports governance are, on the eve of its showcase event. Sixteen years' worth of attempts to "harmonize" global anti-doping rules have brought us to this juncture, and many have lost faith in the system. Individual athletes can be suspended for small amounts of pain or cold medications and inadvertent use of tainted supplements, but higher up the food chain, when it comes to federations and nations, the standard of strict liability doesn't apply.
The rationale for the IOC's decision was individual athletes' rights versus considerable evidence of systemic corruption in Russia's sports establishment, and government involvement in that establishment. But the IOC then pivoted and said any Russian athlete with a prior doping offense cannot compete even if his or her ban was served. This rights issue has been arbitrated before and won't stand up if legally challenged.
A wider investigation into Russian sport should have been triggered no later than January 2016, when Part II of the World Anti-Doping Agency's independent commission report was released. There was plenty of smoke at that point and athlete representatives called for it. Instead, WADA did not act until May, pushing its newest report to mid-July. Now, each individual international federation will cull through each Russian athlete using criteria that are not well defined, and apt to be unevenly applied. Many, if not all, of them are vulnerable to same overlapping interests as the IOC and WADA. So far, federations have rubber-stamped the Russian Olympic Committee's nominations. What federation is going to buck Russia when the IOC wouldn't?
Expect bureaucratic confusion and legal/arbitration challenges right up to the Opening Ceremony on Aug. 5 in Rio. The Parade of Nations will be suspenseful as we await the letter R.
Fairly or not, any event where a Russian athlete competes or medals in Rio will be dominated by this conversation. This, in turn, obscures the fact that doping is hardly just a Russian problem.
Whistleblower Yulia Stepanova was denied the chance to compete as a neutral athlete in Rio, condescendingly referred to as an athlete who doesn't "meet ethical criteria" in the IOC's ruling. Stepanova had to flee Russia in fear after helping expose corruption. Track and field's world governing body (the IAAF) and WADA both supported her bid to compete under a neutral flag. The IOC hid behind the rationale that athletes must compete under a national flag, when in fact the IOC has allowed athletes to compete under the Olympic flag in past Games, and authorized a refugee team for Rio. Not a great message to whistleblowers going forward.