The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.
© Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.Putin calls ban on Russia's Paralympic team inhumane
By JAMES ELLINGWORTH MOSCOW©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.
15 Comments
Login to comment
randomnator
no comment on the shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 however ? Putin is a floater. So sad that Trump has given his soul to this despot. Watch out USA, this man might be the master of your POTUS.
BaltanSeijin84
Forcibly altering your citizens with bizarre chemicals into some sort of quasi-mutants is truly inhumane.
ClippetyClop
So entrenched is the culture of cheating in Russia that they can't understand that sporting success can be gained through well funded training and dedication.
Yoshitsune
Cry me a river, Vladimir. You complain that the ruling is cynical; hardly as cynical as your state-sponsored doping. The decision to ban them is outside of law and morality? Well, so was the decision to use state resources to help them cheat.
Asakaze
Let me remind some posters here that the Russian Olympic team was allowed to Rio because IOC was not presented with sufficient proof of any state-sponsored doping, whatever this con artist MacLaren claimed in his fabricated report. And even this crook did not charge Russian paralympians with doping. Nevertheless, Craven grounded the whole team, without any concrete evidence or proof. Craven is a scum, pure and simple, and a disgrace to all Olympic ideals.
Yoshitsune
The Russian team (not all of it) was eventually allowed to go to Rio because the IOC chief is in Putin's pocket. Even then, the track and field athletes weren't allowed to compete. The really stupid thing is that Russia doesn't actually need to cheat to achieve sporting success; that country should be perfectly capable of producing world class athletes fair and square. Instead Russia has embarrassed itself and undermined the credibility of the Olympics. Great country; awful, awful, awful government.
Asakaze
And you have proof of that?
If the WADA investigation was a criminal case in court of law then the case would be thrown out of court due to complete failure to provide any substantial proof, and McLaren himself would be charged with tampering with evidence.
And you can support your claim with proof? McLaren failed miserably to proof state-sponsored / state-ordered doping. If you can, go ahead.
The whole story reminds me the events before the 2003 invasion of Iraq. "Hey, Saddam has nukes, we have proof". And then huge nothing, "oops, we were wrong, whatever". The same thing again - false claims, no proof, just huge propaganda noise in order to achieve dirty aims.
Completely agreed. And the success of the Russian team which after all these despicable machinations lost third of its members confirms it.
Yoshitsune
Ask Grigory Rodchenkov.
Bit of a stretch. But yes there are some parallels - a powerful country lying through its teeth while engaging in illegal and immoral behaviour. Then it was the US, now it's Russia. The Russian people deserve so much better than the Putin kleptocracy.
Asakaze
Oh, yes, I've read about this dude. Chief of Moscow doping test laboratory, involved in illegal trade of substances. When things began to become hot he rushed to the US. He is a usual defector who would happily say anything his handlers would like to hear and use in a propaganda campaign. But anyway, what did Rodchenskov say about "IOC chief is in Putin's pocket"? Can you be more specific?
Not "some", but exact parallels, absolutely the same "modus operandi": the same side (US/UK) accuse another country (then Iraq, now Russia) in something horrible (then WMD, now doping). The accused country tries to defent itself with some logical explanations, but the accusers start a deafening propaganda campaign, supported by "absolutely reliable evidence". Remember Colin Powell in his famous (the word "infamous" would be more suitable though) photo with a vial? Just replace Powell with McLaren, that's all, even the vial can be same. And in several months, when the dust settles, the result will be the same - "oops, I did it again".
May be we should let the Russians decide what kind of president they should have? And can you plese stop talking propaganda cliches and start talking facts? You are sure that Putin is a kleptocrat? OK, be precise - how much did he stole, when, what? Without proof it's just empty talk.
Yoshitsune
Balderdash. Russia wasn't accused by the US or the UK; Rodchenkov is Russian and he was the whistleblower. And WADA means world anti-doping agency, not British or American.
Not to worry; nothing a cheeky drop of polonium can't sort out.
I didn't say he's a thief. I said his government is a kleptocracy.
Black Sabbath
I think injecting athletes with steroids is inhumane.
Asakaze
Nah, it's just like the American baseball championship which is also called "World series". What countries dominate WADA? And when did WADA check US laboratories last time?
Nothing to say in substance, I presume? I see.
All right, once again - what did Putin's government steal? How much, when? Facts please.
Yoshitsune
The reason Russia's pro-doping agency got checked was because someone blew the whistle. If a whistleblower comes forward from the US and says it's happening there, and if WADA does nothing about it - then, and only then, will you be able to claim bias.
Polonium is a substance, one which was used to murder another Russian defector. Seeing as you're labelling Rodchenkov a 'usual defector', seems you're aware that Russian defectors are a usual thing. Wonder why that could be?
Calling Putin's government a kleptocracy does not require it or him to have been caught red-handed with bundles of cash. Please Google the word kleptocracy, but here's a quick wiki paragraph:
"a government seen as having a particularly severe and systemic problem with officials or a ruling class (collectively, kleptocrats) taking advantage of corruption to extend their personal wealth and political power. Typically this system involves the embezzlement of state funds at the expense of the wider population, sometimes without even the pretense of honest service."
If you don't think that sounds like the Russian government, you must have your head buried very deep in the sand indeed. Or merely be intent on deflecting any and all criticism even though you know it's true.
Asakaze
Yoshitsune, two thirds of your post have no relation to the subject of the thread (doping).
I do not need explanation of the word "kleptocracy" , I know its meaning. I need facts, and you failed to provide any. Without facts your claims are just exercise in empty talk by an idle mind.
Back to the subject. What supports your claim "IOC chief is in Putin's pocket"? And what is the proof of state-ordered doping program in Russia?
Yoshitsune
We're all well aware of the facts laid out by Mr Rodchenkov. I don't need to cite them here; you know what they are and you are going to try to deflect and deny, regardless.
Rodchenkov is Russian.