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Opinion: What a mess!

Joscha Weber Bonn 9577
Joscha Weber
Commentary
August 9, 2016

There is a lot of suspicion going around the Aquatics Stadium in Rio. Swimmers are getting booed and some are refusing to shake hands with their competitors. The sports authorities are to blame, writes Joscha Weber.

https://p.dw.com/p/1Jehb
Brasilien Olympische Spiele in Rio - Schwimmerinnen Lilly King und Julija Andrejewna Jefimowa
Image: Getty Images/R. Heathcote

The Cold War is back, and this time it is being fought out in a press conference in Rio de Janeiro. The American swimmers Lilly King and Katie Meili sit beside their Russian counterpart, Yulia Efimova, but they don't even glace at her. There is no small talk and no congratulatory handshake. It's as cold as the ice age inside the Aquatics Stadium.

"I don't think athletes who are caught should be allowed to compete again. But I respect the fact that my opinion is irrelevant," said King, clearly referring to Yulia Efimova.

Weber Joscha Kommentarbild App
DW's Joscha Weber

Not only has Efimova served a 16-month ban for using steroids, but she tested positive again at the start of this year for meldonium and was banned by FINA, world swimming's governing body. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) tried to prevent the 24-year-old from competing in Rio but the Court of Arbitration for Sport overturned an IOC rule that would have seen every Russian who had ever tested positive banned from the Games. In short, it's just a mess.

Poison for the Games' atmosphere

The sporting authorities have become tangled up in their own web of rules, and nobody seems to know a way out. And all of this comes during the world's biggest sporting festival. This is a disgrace! And the helplessness of the "Olympic family" is well and truly on display in the Aquatics Stadium.

Efimova was booed before the silver medal in the 100-meter breaststroke, but she managed to come away with a silver medal. She was left completely distraught at the end of it though, sobbing as she made her way to her dressing room. After the medals ceremony, she turned up to the obligatory press conference.

"It was very hard to swim today," she said, choking back tears. "It's very upsetting when politics interfere into sports. Perhaps certain powers are trying to hurt Russia and are using athletes to do this."

These are nothing but conspiracy theories. The system of state doping in Russia is well documented, but Efimova's case demonstrates the reality of the situation the sporting authorities have put sports and athletes into. Suspicion is everywhere - and that is poison for the atmosphere at these Games.

Australian Olympic gold medalist Mack Horton declared that he had no time for a "drugs cheat" - referring to Sun Yang of China. Yang, who won gold in the men's 200-meter freestyle was also booed by the crowd. The reason: He tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug in 2014 and was banned for a laughable three months - in the offseason.

Time for a common set of rules

It is decisions like that that have done long-term damage to sports. The IOC, the governing bodies of individual sports, and even some anti-doping agencies often act in a random manner - passing the buck back and fourth between each other. And this is creating a climate of mistrust.

Paul Biedermann hit the nail on the head when he said: "It is not the athlete who is to blame, but the system." He is right. The global fight against doping is akin to a lottery. Nobody can forecast the result. Almost every Russian athlete is being allowed to compete at the Olympics, but not a single one at the Paralympics. It's time for a unified set of rules, for forceful action and for a truly independent authority, which is responsible for actually dealing with doping in all sports rather than just talking about it.