Comment: The following article was forwarded to us by a former employee of WADA, the World Anti-Doping Agency, which is supposed to impartially monitor sports for the use of performance-enhancing drugs...
WADA officials strongly believe that any doping problem can be solved just with punitive actions. Unfortunately, such an attitude prevents them from taking really effective measures to reform anti-doping regulation. If WADA can't admit the fact that the problem goes beyond its control, it would be better to rethink the validity of this institution.
The need for essential changes in WADA's structure has already discussed in the aftermath of the 2016 Olympics in Rio. The national anti-doping organisations of 17 countries including the USA, Germany and the UK called for an overhaul of the World Anti-Doping Agency. The 17-nation group proposed that WADA becomes more independent in order to be free from any prejudice and pressure from International Federations and National Olympic Committees.
However, instead of making reforms WADA keeps playing the role of the main executioner. Moreover, WADA's steps undermine the fundamental principles of Olympism and its noble goal to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of humankind without discrimination of any kind, such as race, language or national origin.
WADA enjoys suspending the accreditation of the laboratories even without giving any reason or detail of such a decision. Only this year, WADA has provisionally stopped the work of labs in Paris and Bucharest. It seems that WADA is just trying to demonstrate its efficiency. However, no one has been persuaded so far.
It's difficult to not be puzzled by WADA's role in the Russian doping scandal. Russian athletes were caught doping plenty of times. Russian sports authorities have been demonstrating their incompetence for a long time. Nevertheless, the exclusion of the Russian national Olympic team from the Games in Pyeongchang as representatives of a sovereign state recognized by the United Nations and the world community is a gross violation of the Olympic Charter adopted in 2015. Although sports officials described this case as the temporary suspension of the Russian Olympic Committee, and consequently banned the use of Russian national symbols during the competition, this ban contradicts Rule 59, Chapter 6 of the Charter, which does not allow the exclusion of an entire country from the Olympic Games.
There should be no doubt that collective punishment is not a panacea in the fight against doping. It is essential to deal with the reasons for clamant violations without damaging clean athletes' reputations, whatever country they compete for. This ban from the Winter Olympics appears to be a political decision, not a desire to fix the current situation.
A review of the bans of whole national teams throughout history proves that there had always been some political reason for doing it. In 1920, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Turkey and Bulgaria were banned for their culpability in launching WWI. In 1924, Germany was suspended for the same reason. Germany and Japan were banned from the 1948 Olympic Games for starting WWII. In 1964, the IOC disqualified the Republic of South Africa over its policy of racial discrimination and Apartheid. In 2000, the national team of Afghanistan wasn't accepted in the Olympics because Afghan women were forbidden to take part in sports events. And lastly, the Indian national team was suspended from the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games because of its government's interference in matters of the Indian Olympic Association.
Thus, it is clear that each case of national team suspension has been based on some political reason. The exclusion of the Russian team from the Games in Pyeongchang is obviously a political step that WADA has taken to strengthen its position in the sports world instead of actually fighting against doping. WADA can't stand Russia's cheating, but turns a blind eye to high-profile doping violations in weightlifting, for example, and sports officials are not planning to ban weightlifting from the Olympics anytime soon.
WADA's ideology and its methods are very controversial. In fact, WADA reminds one of a gangrene infection. And, as we know, sometimes the only way to save a life is to cut off the infected limb.
Who says they are psychos!