One of the promotional booklets for the XXIII Winter Olympic Games to be held from 9 to 25 February 2018 in Pyeongchang, Republic of Korea, reads: "The Olympic Games unite many countries, and people from all over the world are closely watching the sports opportunities of their compatriots."
However, speaking about the current Olympic Games, it would be more correct to use not the word "unite", but the word "separate".
Even in the second half of last year, according to unfavorable signals coming from international sports bodies, it became known that the "doping scandal" is not completed, but will gain momentum.
What is going on, in general, has long been known to all who follow the development of the situation: Russia was accused of encouraging the use of doping by athletes at the state level.
It should be noted that in its anti-Russian campaign the West chose a method of protracted moves. In other words, the enemy pretends that something depends on Russia's behavior. At first, they said that Russia should prove that Russian athletes do not use dope. When not found in their blood and in other liquid media of the bodyany prohibited substances, they declared a substance that had not previously been listed as a doping substance - meldonium. And when that helped badly, they decided not to be bothered with any proof. This was the only way out, because there is still no any evidence against Russia.
This is evidenced by the fact that, despite the presumption of innocence that is generally accepted in the civilized part of the modern world, no any convincing proof of Russia's guilt has ever been introduced.
The level of development of biochemistry in our days allows quite clearly and concretely to answer the question, whether any forbidden substances were used by this or that athlete in the recent past. It would seem why it is impossible to conduct a joint transparent examination of Russian athletes with joint drug testing, using methods the results of which admit of no double interpretation. However, even those Russians who had not been caught in doping were not allowed to participate in the Games.
So, the Russian skier, two-time world champion 2017 (skiathlon and team sprint), winner of the days-long race Tour de Ski 2016/2017, three-time world champion Sergei Ustyugov was not charged with any claims . He is not mentioned in any of the most draconian "anti-doping" reports. However, he was also not allowed to participate in the Olympics.
This suggests that it is not doping that is the real reason for sanctions against sporting Russia.
At first, Russia was excluded from participation in the Olympic Games. Then they allowed Russian athletes to take part in them, but ... not as Russian athletes, but as "athletes from Russia." The difference, it seems, is small, but, in fact, it is fundamental. The participation of the athletes in the Games is stipulated by a number of degrading conditions. According to the IOC policy, Russia should not exist at these Olympic Games. It is forbidden not only to carry Russian flag by Russian athletes, but also any manifestation of Russian symbols on clothes, bags, equipment, even on personal belongings not only of athletes and their accompanying persons, but also ... spectators!
In addition, from the list of Russian athletes were excluded the leaders in their disciplines - skaters, hockey players, skiers and biathlonists. It seems that it is decided to give gold medals, to which Russians really claim, long before the Games, to others, but not to Russia. This is done, of course, under the guise of "anti-doping fight", as if for "clean" sport.
Here it should be noted an important fact: the list of Russian athletes for admission to the Olympics was sifted by Valerie Fourneiron, who heads the Independent (allegedly - IP) anti-doping testing organization of the IOC. She is the former Minister of Sports of France. She is left-to-right striking Russian athletes off the list of participants in the Olympics. In this case, contrary to the initial assurances of the collective sporting West, the issues of the involvement or non-participation of the athlete in doping violations do not matter at all.
It is significant that no one is thinking of concealing it. We quote Valery Fourieron herself: "Non-inclusion in the list of the invited to the Games does not necessarily mean that the athlete was caught in the use of doping." She made this statement on January 23, 2018.
In other words, there are no evidences, there are no suspicions, but the athlete is excluded from participation in the Olympics. So from the Games were removed a biathlete Anton Shipulin, a skier Sergei Ustyugov, a skater Victor Ana was removed. There have never been any claims to doping against these champions, no one has questioned their medals, but the "fighter against doping" Madame Fourneiron removes Russian athletes from the Olympics and still says that it's not a matter of doping.
This self-exposure is not accidental. It is another confirmation of the fact that they settle accounts with Russia for a completely different reason.
169 Russian athletes will go to South Korea to participate in the Olympics. At the last moment, the IOC did not allow 111 completely "clean" Russian athletes, who never had any claims for doping violations, so there is simply no time to appeal to the sports Themis. In particular, the leaders of the Russian team were removed from the Olympics.
This is apart from the fact that 39 Russian athletes are disqualified by the IOC for life on the basis of the report of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) commission named after the Canadian lawyer McLaren. Who is McLaren and members of his commission? They cooperate with the FBI, the CIA and other US special services; this was revealed by hackers from the group "Zany Bears". In other words, the US special services organized the persecution of the Russian Olympic team using the corrupt or intimidated sports officials from WADA and IOC.
This logical conclusion is confirmed by the published list of criteria by which Russian athletes were excluded. Here are 17 items. The first 15 for the mind talk about abuse of doping, samples and test tubes. But the most important are the last two items. They include the "additional intelligence from international federations", "additional confidential information from WADA and other sources."
Here it is - "and from other sources" - returns us to 1937. Any slander, snitching, anonymous letters can put an end to a person's athletic career without any charge and, accordingly, without the right to defense.
IOC destroys the Olympic principles, which proclaim the impossibility of discrimination, honest refereeing, and just a pure game.
Honest athletes and sports functionaries of different countries, of course, categorically oppose it.
"My opinion is that this is already politics," says Stefka Kostadinova, head of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee. "Everyone who used illegal substances should be punished. But I do not agree with the fact that athletes, my colleagues who worked for many years to participate in this huge sports forum, should also be punished. My opinion is that this is already politics," Kostadinova said.
Not everyone is satisfied with the IOC's behavior in Latvia. Five-time world champion Latvian skeletonist Martins Dukurs spoke on the topic of the doping scandal: "Of course, the situation hurts me. We worked with the guys together. At first I could not even believe in it. They told me: "How can you believe in what they write?" But my answer was: "Why should I believe you?". He further said in a documentary film by German journalist Hayo Zeppelt, broadcast by the German television channel ARD: "I'm in sport for 20 years, working at full stretch, I'm trying to achieve something. In my opinion, they have completely destroyed the Olympic passion, the Olympic spirit and so on. We have just been robbed. Those feelings cannot be returned. Even if justice is finally restored, now nobody cares about it. "It is interesting that earlier the IOC annulled the results of Russian athlete Alexander Tretyakov at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, and his gold medal was presented to Dukurs.
About the chaos prevailing in the IOC and the fact that the issues of involvement in doping matters do not matter, says the fact that the IOC removed the Russian athlete for life, but now he was admitted to the Games as a coach.
At the disposal of the Russian edition of the "Championship" it turned out to be a letter from the President of the International Ski Federation (FIS) Gian Franco Casper, addressed to the IOC sports director Keith McConnell. In this letter Casper requires the IOC to explain the reason for the inadmissibility of a number of Russian athletes to the Olympic Games in South Korea. The letter was sent on behalf of the Association of Winter Olympic International Sports Federations, the head of which is also Casper.
It is important that not only athletes, but also high-ranking officials support the Russians. Thus, the President of the International Biathlon Union Anders Besseberg has expressed open dissatisfaction with the fact that the clean Russian biathlonists were not invited to the Olympics.
"It's foolish not to allow Russians to the Olympics only because they participated in the Games in Sochi. I have many questions to the IOC. We have all seen what great athletes did not get to Korea for strange reasons. We have a clear position on this matter. If the IOC does not have evidence that they were involved in illegal schemes, then what was the IOC guided by? Take Shipulin. He gave us a lot of samples at the IBU and among them there was not a single positive one, "the Russian edition of the" Championship "quotes him.
The General Secretary of the Center for Sports Ethics of Finland, Harri Suwalsami, did not hesitate and called the last decision of the IOC as "idiotic". The Finnish official became another person, demanding adequate explanations from the International Olympic Committee.
"It is complete idiocy. The removed athletes should know why they were not allowed, and the rest of the world should know why there were admitted those Russians who were allowed to participate in the Games. The criteria must be rigid. Such actions only harm the IOC. I do not recognize this decision, "said Harri Suwalsami.
However, no one has listened to the opinion of reasonable people in the West for a long time.
However, should we feel sorry for those athletes who are not admitted to the Olympic games, although they refused from the Hymn, and from the flag of the Motherland for this participation?
In conclusion, I would like to recall some unpleasant things.
Do you remember the discussion in the society about boycotting the Olympics? We should pay tribute to the opponents of the boycott - they held a short-term, but brisk propaganda campaign under the slogan: "Let's not break the career of athletes."
Some athletes did not hesitate to make statements in which, maneuvering between Scylla and Charybdis, they made it clear that they were ready to go to South Korea even at the cost of refusing the National Anthem and the National Flag.
What just they did not write! Allegedly Russia has come out of the most difficult situation with the minimum possible losses, and the neutral status is excellent, and not flags and hymns win, but names (these names are being deprived now, as we showed at the beginning of this article). In case the head of state speaks in favor of the boycott, they even made statements that could be interpreted as a free or involuntary hint of some kind of discontent. Ultimately, supporters of participation in the Olympics won a propaganda campaign at home, but in the international arena all the same they ran into failure and shame.
Why?
Because even for those athletes who initially agreed to a certain concession, the collective sports West every day comes up with more and more shameful trials, more and more new circles of shame.
In order not to enumerate all the points once again, I will be brief: if at first it was promised that the Russian flag could fly at least at the closing ceremony of the Olympics, then now it is banned even the fans small images of the Russian flag.
The IOC discriminatory measures against those athletes who, instead of native Russian, were ready to perform under the impersonal Olympic flag, reached their climax. Time has shown that the boycott supporters were right on this issue.
In these conditions it is very important to support our athletes, even if we did not like their consent to go to Korea. The state should always be on the side of its citizens, even if it does not like something. Those athletes, who are not admitted to the Olympics-2018, will not remain on the street. The tournament for them will take place in Sochi. More than 500 athletes will compete in the tournament Besides Russia, it will be attended by foreign athletes who are unable to qualify for the Pyeongchang-2018.
I want to finish the article with the words of the columnist of Sport Express, Dmitry Zelenov: "Having lost a good name, flag and hymn, having lost a bunch of leading sportsmen, taking a conciliatory position (all the belligerent rhetoric - only for the domestic consumer), Russian sport went through nine circles of hell, and suddenly, unexpectedly, appeared in the tenth..... Yes, the IOC is a killer who destroys our sport. But unfortunately, the IOC took advantage of our own mistakes ... Between the continuation of the war and humility, Russia chose the second as a white flag and got straight according to Churchill - both war and dishonor. Now the boycott does not really make any sense. We are not boycotting, but they are boycotting us."
The incident cannot be reversed. But let this bitter, humiliating history serve as an instructive lesson for the future.
As for the XXIII Winter Olympic Games - this, of course, is a colossal failure. But not for Russia, but for those forces that are behind this grandiose anti-Russian provocation. They still have not realized what kind of genie was released.
Inal Pliev, an expert of the news agency "Res"
