International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach finds himself in a tricky position. In 1976, he became Olympic fencing champion with the fine foil, and so far has negotiated the murky waters of sports politics with the same finesse as was required of his specialty.
But now, he will need the cutting thrust of a sabre as he faces mounting pressure to act after a damning report on state-run doping in Russia by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appointed independent investigator Richard McLaren.
According to Dagmar Freitag, the head Germany’s parliamentary sports committee, it’s time for Bach to follow up words about zero tolerance on doping with deeds. “We now need a president of the International Olympic Committee who meets his leadership role and shows strength of leadership,” Freitag said. Many others have voiced similar opinions.
The IOC has deferred making a decision on whether to impose a blanket ban on Russian athletes for the August 5-21 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. It is studying the McLaren report, which revealed how positive tests were made to disappear with the connivance of the sports ministry, intelligence service and other officials, and how urine samples were swapped and tampered with at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games. The IOC executive board said in reaction Tuesday it would explore the “legal options” for a complete ban on Russian athletes at the Rio Games.
The IOC is also waiting for today’s ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on the eligibility of 68 Russian athletes who have appealed to compete in Rio following the suspension of the Russian athletics federation by athletics ruling body IAAF. McLaren’s report showed that not only the winter Olympics in Sochi two years ago was affected by the cheating; it ran to other events including the 2013 athletics world championships in Moscow.
It looks as if the 62-year-old IOC chief wants to avoid a complete exclusion of Russia from the XXXI Games around the CAS decision and the international sports, but he can’t keep waiting for what the associations do or what the CAS does.
As a young fencer, Bach experienced and suffered the boycott of the 1980 Games in Moscow. Therefore, he knows that a new Cold War in sport would affect athletes first and foremost. Nevertheless, he insists the IOC “will not hesitate to take the toughest sanctions available against any individual or organisation implicated.”
First of all though, the IOC lawyers have to explore what legal options there are for a blanket exclusion of Russian athletes for the Olympics and how this is also compatible with athletes’ individual rights. Or is Bach being considerate of Russia because he maintains good relations with President Vladimir Putin?
Corruption expert Sylvia Schenk from Transparency International favours an Olympic exclusion for Russia, but also says that any such decision cannot be the last word. “You can make an example like this, also because the pressure is so great, but you cannot then carry on as usual,” the former athlete said. “The whole anti-doping system has to be put to the test.”
The IOC surely has a great deal on its hands over the next few days.

As a young fencer, Bach experienced and suffered the boycott of the 1980 Games in Moscow