AOC backs WADA ban on Russia | Australian Olympic Committee

The Australian Olympic Committee (AOC) supports the sanctions handed down by the World Anti-Doping Authority (WADA) Executive Committee overnight to ban Russia from the Olympic and Paralympic Games and other international competitions for the next four years.

AOC Vice President and Australian Team Chef de Mission for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, Ian Chesterman says the sanctions are an appropriate response to the recommendations of WADA Compliance Review Committee.

“Given the disturbing nature of the findings of the Compliance Review Committee, the sanctions send a powerful message”.

“This was a shocking betrayal of fair sport and there are severe consequences for that.”

Mr. Chesterman says the sporting world must continue every effort to stamp out the scourge of doping and punish those who seek to disadvantage athletes who do the right thing.

“Every athlete deserves to compete with the confidence they are competing in a clean and fair environment.

“The fact that this was a systematic attempt to undermine fair sport makes it all the more galling and all the more offensive.

“While the guilty must be punished, it’s only fair that clean athletes from Russia are given the opportunity to compete if they can demonstrate that they were not implicated in any way,” Mr. Chesterman concluded.