IJF-Präsident Marius Vizer und sein Ehrenpräsident Wladimir Putin während der Judo-Wettbewerbe in London. Am ersten Tag der Spiele von Rio holt Russland Gold im Judo. (Foto: President of Russia)

BARRA DA TIJUCA. Moin, moin. Ist spät heute. Allerlei Vorbereitungen mussten getroffen werden, damit hier in den kommenden Tagen feine Geschichten stehen. Wollte eigentlich heute Abend Phelps Watching betreiben, aber das hat sich wegen eines interessanteren Termins gerade zerschlagen. Stay tuned.

Einige Fundstücke.

Owen Gibson schreibt im Guardian, das International Paralympic Committee (IPC) wolle Russland von den Paralympischen Spielen in September ausschließen:

• All Russian athletes to be banned from Paralympic Games in Rio

It is understood that after gathering further evidence from McLaren and giving the Russian Paralympic Committee the opportunity to make its case, a provisional decision has been made. The IPC is to announce its decision at a press conference in Rio on Sunday.

The IPC board met the Russians in Bonn on Wednesday to consider its written and oral arguments in a three-hour meeting. Barring a last minute change of heart, the Russian Paralympic Committee is likely to be banned on the basis that McLaren’s report proved that the Russian system was so compromised it could not be trusted.

Das IPC widerruft sofort:

Statement regarding the Russian Paralympic Committee – no decision made yet

The IPC’s decision will not be announced until 17:00 CEST on Sunday 7 August

Contrary to media reports, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has not yet announced its decision regarding the membership status of the Russian Paralympic Committee.

The IPC can confirm that since 18 July when the McLaren Report was published it has been speaking with Professor McLaren and his investigations team to gather further information.

On 22 July the IPC opened suspension proceedings against the Russian Paralympic Committee following the publication of the McLaren Report and additional information it had received from the report’s author.

The IPC’s decision on the membership status of the Russian Paralympic Committee will not be announced until Sunday 7 August at a press conference in Rio at 17:00 CEST.

Any media report claiming otherwise at present is pure speculation.

Dann also bis Sonntag, 17.00 (22.00 MESZ).

IPC-Präsident Sir Philip Craven ist IOC-Mitglied. Mal sehen, was Thomas, der Freund vom Wladimir, da bis morgen noch machen kann.

-60kg medal podium at #JudoRio2016 #Judo pic.twitter.com/gzOqlqmqaI

— Int. Judo Federation (@IntJudoFed) August 6, 2016

Schnell noch zum Judo, zur ersten russischen Goldmedaille? Ist hier in der Nähe. So ein Zufall aber auch.

olympic coincidence: IJF delivers judo Gold to Russia and IJF Honorary President Vladimir Putin https://t.co/ZjV2i3O8oZ

— Jens Weinreich (@JensWeinreich) August 6, 2016

Das könnte der neue Olympiasieger Beslan Mudranow sein, den Putin da Anfang des Jahres aufs Kreuz legte. Bin mir aber nicht sicher:

Foto: President of Russia

Vor der IOC-Entscheidung im Juli, kurz nach Veröffentlichung des McLaren-Berichts, twitterte Marius Vizer:

The @IntJudoFed supports all Russian athletes who were not involved in doping activities. Here is our statement. pic.twitter.com/lGqnWbuWWz

— Marius Vizer (@MariusVizer) July 21, 2016

Unity, solidarity and friendship.

… instead of examples of Cold War.

Das hat Putin fast wörtlich so gesagt.

Minuten nach der umstrittenen Entscheidung des IOC-Exekutivkomitees im Juli über die Olympia-Teilnahme der Russen twitterte Putins Buddy Marius Vizer:

All qualified Russian judoka have been tested from Sep 2015 – May 2016, on many occasions, at many int. events, not in Russia but outside.

— Marius Vizer (@MariusVizer) July 26, 2016

There was no punishment, no negative evidence, we don’t take into account any analysis/tests made in RUS, because for us it is not relevant.

— Marius Vizer (@MariusVizer) July 26, 2016

Zwei Tage später ließ er über die IJF verbreiten:

26th July 2016.

INTERNATIONAL JUDO FEDERATIONS POSITION FOR RUSSIAN JUDOKAS COMPETING IN RIO

THE INTERNATIONAL JUDO FEDERATION IS DEDICATED TO THE PROTECTION OF CLEAN SPORTS AND CLEAN ATHLETES

Following the recommendations and guidelines set forth by the IOC and WADA, IJF continues to support the participation of all Russian athletes qualified for the Rio Olympic Games. Within the framework of the IJF anti-doping rules and testing scheme, these athletes, like all athletes participating in the World Judo Tour circuit, were tested a number of times, outside Russia as well, during international competitions or through out-of-competition tests. There was no sanction given to Russian judokas.

Therefore, the IJF has submitted the testing history of the concerned athletes to the IOC and at the moment we are awaiting further recommendations in order to proceed.

„I sincerely hope that those athletes who are clean and have no doping records will be able to participate at the Olympic Games, as they have trained hard and, according to available evidence, have not participated in any form of doping. Understanding the huge impact this scandal has on world sports, the clean Russian athletes nonetheless should have a chance just like other clean athletes from any other country.” said Marius L. Vizer, President of the International Judo Federation.

Um es ganz klar zu sagen: IJF und EJU (Europas Judo Union, früher von Vizer geführt, jetzt von einem Russen, auch da ist Putin Ehrenpräsident) und Russland und Putin und Vizer und IJF und Putin und EJU und Vzer sind … eins. Eine Einheit. Oder wie Thomas Bach sagen würde:

Unity in Diversity.

Am 4. August verkündete die IJF:

ALL RUSSIAN JUDO ATHLETES WILL PARTICIPATE IN THE GAMES

The International Judo Federation is very pleased that all Russian judoka qualified for the Olympic Games, tested many times before the Games and clean, will attend the judo event in Rio.

List of qiualified athletes

Women

-48 kg DOLGOVA Irina
-52 kg KUZIUTINA Natalia
-63 kg VALKOVA Ekaterina
+78 kg CHIBISOVA Ksenia

Men

-60 kg MUDRANOV Beslan
-66 kg PULIAEV Mikhail
-73 kg IARTCEV Denis
-81 kg KHALMURZAEV Khasan
-90 kg DENISOV Kirill
-100 kg KHAIBULAEV Tagir
+100 kg SAIDOV Renat

Die IJF hat zuletzt 2014 in Tscheljabinsk und 2016 in Astana (Kasachstan) Judo-Weltmeisterschaften bei Putin und seinen Verbündeten abgehalten – neben vielen anderen Wettbewerben, etwa Grand Prix und den Combat Games in St. Petersburg. Bei einem Treffen in Sotschi, in Putins Palais, mit Vertretern der damals von Vizer geführten EJU ist auch die Machtübernahme im Weltverband IJF vorbereitet worden. Putins Schulkameraden und frühere Judo-Kameraden Arkadi und Boris Rotenberg, die bei den Winterspielen in Sotschi (man lese zum Beispiel diesen wichtigen Bericht des inzwischen ermordeten Boris Nemzow, auf dessen Grundlage Sotschi das 51-Mrd-Price-Tag angeheftet wurde) und vor der WM 2018 im Fußball in Russland gigantische Bauaufträge erhalten haben, sind ebenfalls in der Sportbranche aktiv. Arkady Rotenberg ist Mitglied des IJF-Exekutivkomitees und dort „Development Manager“, außerdem Chef des International Judo Fund.

• Leseprobe „Macht, Moneten, Marionetten“: Liebesgrüße aus Moskau

19.30 Uhr: Nachzutragen ist die Stellungnahme von Witali Stepanow, hatte ich am gestrigen Freitag verpasst – parallel einen großen Text dazu geschrieben, den ich in diesen und diesen Beitrag eingebaut habe.

Heartbreaking.

Statement From Vitaly And Yuliya Stepanov About Not Appealing To CAS Over IOC Decision

Press Release August 5, 2016

We have been asked by many media whether Yuliya has filed an appeal or will file an appeal to CAS in the hope of overturning the IOC’s decision to not let her compete in Rio.

These requests follow the recent decision of the CAS that the IOC’s action in barring Russian athletes from competition because of a previous doping ban is unenforceable as it does not respect the athletes’ right of natural justice. The IOC previously determined that: “The ROC is not allowed to enter any athlete for the Olympic Games Rio 2016 who has ever been sanctioned for doping, even if he or she has served the sanction.”

In our media release of 25 July we stated that Yuliya’s status as an athlete who was formerly sanctioned for doping has no ethical or legal relevance to the decision on her application to compete, as the WADA Code fully contemplates athletes returning to competition following a sanction for doping. The CAS has previously ruled on this issue against the IOC (Rule 45 Case) in 2011, making it clear that imposing an additional ban on athletes for a previous doping violation is invalid and unenforceable.

Hence, the most recent decision of the CAS did not come as a surprise to us. It proved once more that the decision of the IOC to deny Yuliya the right to participate as a neutral athlete itself violates principles of natural justice and does not follow any rationale except the desire to punish a fully credible whistleblower and protect and support athletes and officials that, according to the McLaren Report, cheated “beyond a reasonable doubt.”

We are disappointed that the IOC turned a blind eye to the risks Yuliya had to take, and the damage to her athletic career, to expose the systematic cheating in Russia and live up to the ideals expressed in the World Anti-Doping Code. For her to be called “not ethical enough for the Games” in the media release of the IOC on 24th of July is a tremendous blow. And even more, it was deeply disappointing that the so-called IOC “Ethics Commission” discredited Yuliya by providing untrue information in the very same press release.

We believe that the IOC’s focus on Yuliya’s past sanction for doping shifts the spotlight away from the real issue, which is that the IOC took no action against Russia for punishing Yuliya for being a credible whistle-blower by refusing to put her on Russia’s Olympic team. At no point did the IOC, unlike the IAAF, demand publicly from the Russian sports authorities that they recognise our whistle-blowing as an important and valuable contribution for clean sport in Russia. This amounts to political discrimination in direct violation of the Olympic Charter and was nowhere mentioned in the IOC’s decision.

Our disappointment and sadness is huge. We asked the IOC humbly that Yuliya, as she would never be nominated by the Russian Olympic Committee, be permitted to compete as a neutral athlete at the Games in Rio, in accordance with IAAF rules and the approval by IAAF. We did not ask for special treatment, as she is a fully qualified Olympic-caliber athlete. Instead, we asked that she be restored to the position she would have been in had she never risked everything by exposing Russia’s state-dictated doping program.

In addition, in spite of the clear statements of the Russian Olympic Committee and the Russian Athletics Federation to not nominate her for participation in the Games, Yuliya confirmed to the IOC Ethics Commission that she would be willing to compete under the Russian flag. While Russia was permitted to send hundreds of athletes to the Games, Yuliya’s request was denied.

Although we are heartbroken, we wish to clarify that we have from the beginning chosen to not follow a judicial path. We understand that the IOC has discretion to invite whomever they choose to the Games. We believe that in exercising this discretion to deny Yuliya a place in the competition, it sends a message that the World Anti-Doping Code and the values of Olympism are merely words on a page. As a result, we will not file an appeal to CAS.

More than 250’000 people have signed a petition to ask the IOC to review their decision. We hope that even more will join that petition under https://www.change.org/u/44171830 in order to show the IOC that their decision is wrong and unfair. We do not feel, however, that fighting this through CAS is the path to take.

Finally, we wish to clarify one last point that is very important to us. The IOC Ethics Commission stated that Yuliya “did not satisfy the ethical requirements for an athlete to enter the Olympic Games”. Yesterday an interview was published of Jack Robertson, the former head investigator of WADA, who is a man of tremendous integrity. He said:

“The IOC questioned her (Yuliya’s) motives for speaking out. David, for all of my career I ran informants and whistleblowers, and every time I had to determine what their motivation was for cooperating. Some for revenge, some for money, some for lighter punishments, some to atone for sins. In my 30-plus years in investigations, I have never ever met two people that had more pure motives than Yulia and Vitaly. Yulia was not even seeking a reduction of her sentence. She was entitled to that, but she took the full ban, and never once requested from me that it should be lessened. They had to leave everything, not just careers but their home, to hide in the U.S. Their sole motive is to allow future Russian athletes be able to compete without doping if they don’t want to. In Russia, they’ve been labeled ‘traitors.’ The one thing she ever asked for in return was to be able to compete as a clean athlete in the Olympics. If she said nothing, she’d have a home and a salary and be in Rio right now.”

Rather than pursue an appeal to CAS, we sincerely appreciate and focus instead on this statement. More so than any statement of the IOC “Ethics Commission,” Mr. Robertson’s views restore our faith that some in the Olympic Movement truly do embody the highest ethical and moral principles that the IOC seeks to promote.

Tja, Julia und Witali sind eben keine Freunde von Wladimir Putin.

03.08 Uhr: Liebe Leute, Ihr steht auf, ich lege mich für ein paar Stunden hin. Die Zeitdifferenz macht es etwas schwierig. Ich bin nun aber drauf eigestellt, habe Gespräche geführt, Winzigkeiten recherchiert und einige Themen festgezurrt. Da kommt Vernünftiges in den nächsten Tagen. Ich werde den Sport, die Events, noch mehr vernachlässigen, als angedacht, denn alles andere würde es mir unmöglich machen, Hintergrundthemen anzubieten. Vor ein paar Stunden beispielsweise habe ich ein Treffen mit sehr interessanten Leuten im Herzen von Rio vorgezogen, die wie ich jenseits des Mainstreams Themen berackern. Das bringt Ihnen und mir allemal mehr, als die hundertste Medaille von Michael Phelps zu betrachten. (Ausnahmen bestätigen die Regel.)

Mit Kleinigkeiten kann ich zudem im Blog punkten und die Zeitdifferenz nutzen: Wie am Donnerstagabend (IOC-Entscheidung zum großen russischen Team), vorgestern Nacht oder auch mit der Winzigkeit zum heutigen Judo-Events. Denn das passiert bei Ihnen/Euch nachts/am frühen Morgen. Ich werde in den kommenden zwei Wochen mich also darauf konzentrieren, a) einige Hintergründe zu nächtlichen Ereignissen anzubieten und b) meine Themen durchzuziehen, an denen ich versuche kontinuierlich zu arbeiten. Der Rhythmus sollte jetzt gefunden sein, das Fieber ist verschwunden, der Bauch gut gefüllt heute Nacht, die Spiele haben gerade begonnen, mein Projekt läuft schon seit 16 Tagen, seit der Vorstellung des McLaren-Berichts. Wir sind noch ganz am Anfang.

Bitte scheuen Sie sich nicht/scheut Euch nicht, mir Fragen zu schicken, gern auch Themen, die Ihr erörtert sehen möchtet. Darüber würde ich mich sehr freuen, der Mehrwert könnte okay sein, mitunter kann ich gewiss Ansätze für Antworten liefern, werde mich auf jeden Fall bemühen. Im Workflow, so wie jetzt organisiert, passt das allemal rein, zum Beispiel auf den insgesamt doch stundenlangen Taxifahrten täglich. Da ist immer Zeit. Heute beispielsweise etwa eine halbe Stunde in den Olympic Park, etwa anderthalb Stunden über einige Stationen nach Urca, zurück in sensationellen 40 Minuten. Sind insgesamt trotzdem mehr als zweieinhalb Stunden. Das wird sich kaum ändern, wird eher mehr werden, denn ich muss mich bewegen.

Boa noite! Für vier Stunden.