IOC ruining int'l sports law - Duma Legislation Committee head
MOSCOW. Feb 5 (Interfax) - The International Olympic Committee's (IOC) decision not to invite the Russian athletes cleared of doping charges by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea is ruining the international sports law system, Russian State Duma Committee on State Building and Legislation Pavel Krasheninnikov said.
Asked by Interfax whether this decision may be ruinous to the foundations of international sports law, Krasheninnikov replied, "Yes. First there were international traditions, then an international law system started forming. Now these three huge blows, the last of which has been dealt the other day, are severely undermining the system. And it seems to me this is not the last blow."
The three blows dealt lately to international sports law are collective responsibility of athletes for a violation committed by one of them, retroactivity in doping cases, and the IOC's refusal to accept a CAS decision, Krasheninnikov said.
"First, it's collective liability, and this just doesn't fit any legal framework and any legal understanding. Second, which we somewhat missed, is when some new substance gets [banned] starting from today, but it takes time for any substance to be eliminated from the body. This was the second blow to Olympism, and we know prominent names [of athletes] who were caught on that," he said.
The IOC's refusal to recognize the CAS decision is also beyond the legal framework, he said.
"Now that some people didn't like the court judgment, they say: we will be reforming it - this is how they treat their own rules they endorsed themselves and Olympism in general," Krasheninnikov said.
"Damage caused to Olympism is very severe, it's damage to Olympism and to the law, in particular," he said.