The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has been accused of ‘cowardice’ for failing to help a former Russian anti-doping official turned whistleblower. Grigory Rodchenkov, whose revelations of statesponsored cheating led to the country’s ban from the 2018 Winter Olympics, fled to the US two years ago and remains in hiding. But his lawyer – Jim Walden – has now accused Russia of “stepping up its retaliation” by secretly lobbying for his extradition. “If they succeeded, Dr Rodchenkov would face death and torture at their hands,” he warned.
Walden said the IOC had “refused to lift a finger to help him”, and suggested threats to his client’s safety may force him to stop providing evidence to the authorities. The IOC said it ‘categorically denies’ Walden’s claim that it had refused to help, stressing it had sought special protection for Rodchenko as a whistleblower – though pointed out “it is not in its powers to protect witnesses”.
Rodchenkov’s shock revelations triggered investigations by both the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) and the IOC. Earlier this month, the IOC confirmed “the systematic manipulation of the anti-doping rules and system”.
Russia has repeatedly denied running a state-sponsored doping programme, but was told its athletes could only compete under a neutral flag in Pyeongchang in February. Russia’s investigative committee has said it will ask the US to extradite Rodchenkov, the former head of Moscow’s anti-doping laboratory.
President Vladimir Putin has also suggested the whistleblower may have been drugged by the FBI to coax a confession, something Walden described as ‘comical’.
“Russia knows that the IOC is planning to relyon Dr Rodchenkov’s testimony at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, where dozens of banned Russian athletes have fi led appeals from their personal lifetime bans for doping,” he said. “Obviously, Russia would like to silence Dr Rodchenkov and make his testimony in these cases impossible.
