IOC’s Decision Shows Them As Bad As FIFA Ever Were

If you like to bet on sports in Russia on Bet365 the International Olympic Committee's decision not to ban all Russian participation in the 2016 Rio Olympics will be warmly welcomed, but unfortunately the IOC's fudging of the issue leaves it looking powerless, pathetic and just as deserving of scorn as FIFA.

Competitive by our very nature humans have done everything in recent years to use modern technology to turn life into a quantifiable game. How many retweets have you got? How many likes? How many “friends” on your Facebook wall? Social interaction is now just another point-scoring opportunity, no less a game than Medal of Duty or Call of Honor, Angry Mario or Super Birds, and perhaps it is this trend towards competition in all things that explains the IOC's decision to compete with FIFA.

IOC's Decision on Russia

• No blanket ban
• No previous drug cheats
• IF to decide on athletes

It would be nice to think there were a little friendly rivalry between the two organizations, seeing whose flagship event can attract the most attendees or viewers, but instead what the International Olympic Committee have done is to make a ruling on Russian participation at the 2016 Rio Games that shows instead that they wish to compete with FIFA on the footballers' home turf of stupidity, corruption and a flagrant disregard for the fans. The IOC's decision didn't even make sense, classic FIFA mimicry.

Weak & Pathetic IOC Make International Federations Decide Instead.

A blanket ban on all Russian participation at the 2016 Rio Olympics seemed very much on the cards after the massive raft of accusations leveled against the nation by WADA, the World Anti-Doping Agency, however the IOC didn't seem to feel that state sponsored doping across the entire gamut of Russian sport was enough to warrant a total ban. This left some, like Katharine Merry, wondering what would warrant one if this didn't, and others noted that the IOC's decision left the individual International Federations decide for themselves quite late in the game, some calling it “a cop out”.

Yulia Stepanova Mistreated

• Whistleblower banned
• No neutral flag entry
• WADA lament decision

The ruling that no athlete could go to the Olympics if they'd previously been caught doping was, on the face of it, one of the better parts of the IOC's decision, but if you're Russian gambling laws of sporting fair play would see that rule applied to all nations and not just Russia, think again. Apparently drug-cheats are welcome at the Olympics, unless they're Russian. Worse still this means the Russian whistleblower who called the world's attention to the doping in Russian sport can't compete even under a neutral flag which is a shame for those that would have backed her on Bet365 .

IOC's Decision Punishes Whistle blower Stepanova

That IOC's decision punishes Yulia Stepanova, a Russian gambling news from the IOC would be sensible, despite her coming clean. Even WADA has expressed its distaste for the IOC's decision saying; “Ms Stepanova was instrumental in courageously exposing the single biggest doping scandal of all time. WADA is very concerned by the message that this sends whistleblowers for the future.” and the US Anti-Doping Association saying it was a “significant blow to the rights of clean athletes.”


“The decision to refuse her entry into the games is incomprehensible and will undoubtedly deter whistleblowers in the future from coming forward.” Said USADA boss Travis Tygart apparently skirting the issue that this is, of course, what the IOC's decision was all about. They threw the ban issue back to the individual sporting federations shirking their responsibility and now punish the one person that made them look bad by telling the truth. FIFA and Sepp Blatter might have disgusted the world with its level of corruption, but the IOC has eclipsed that with this horrific failure of leadership, common sense and fair play.