Markin Will Not Be In Rio

Outside hitter Alexander Markin is one of 85 Russian players not allowed to compete in the upcoming Olympics.

In an article released by TASS, the 25 year old shares that he is disqualified to compete and he will NOT appeal the decision by the FIVB:

“I was at home in the morning when the coach told me that the FIVB is not allowing me to participate in the Olympics. However, I am still allowed to play for the national team (outside the Olympics).”

In case you didn’t know, Markin tested positive for meldonium earlier this year. After reviewing his case, the FIVB did not punish him because of the level of meldonium found in his system.

“The concentration of meldonium in Mr. Markin’s sample was 0.3 micrograms and the test occurred on January 9, 2016. Therefore, the two criteria provided by WADA were satisfied. The FIVB Disciplinary Panel concluded that Mr. Markin committed an anti-doping rule violation but bore no fault or negligence in this case. The FIVB Disciplinary Panel therefore lifted his provisional suspension and decided that he would be subject to no additional sanctions taking the approach recommended by WADA.

The FIVB Disciplinary Panel noted that the disqualification of the results of the team based on the anti-doping rule violation of one athlete is discretionary and is not an automatic consequence under the applicable rules.”

Click here to read the DECISION.

On the other hand, Volleyrussia is questioning the decision.

“However, we found an interesting exemption for Maxwell Holt this time. If this measure is only directed against Russia but no other country?”

Holt tested positive as well for meldonium but did not receive any sanction from the IOC nor the FIVB.

Russia Avoids Complete Ban

Russia will not be completely banned from the Rio Olympics. But its athletes must appeal to gain eligibility. https://t.co/XE9KlnFkNZ

— The New York Times (@nytimes) July 24, 2016

From the IOC:

On the basis of the Findings of the IP Report, all Russian athletes seeking entry to the Olympic Games Rio 2016 are considered to be affected by a system subverting and manipulating the anti-doping system. The IP Report indicates that, due to “the highly compressed timeline”, the IP has “only skimmed the surface of the extensive data available”. The IOC EB therefore came to the conclusion that this view cannot be restricted only to athletes from the 20 Olympic summer sports mentioned in the IP Report.

Under these exceptional circumstances, Russian athletes in any of the 28 Olympic summer sports have to assume the consequences of what amounts to a collective responsibility in order to protect the credibility of the Olympic competitions, and the “presumption of innocence” cannot be applied to them. On the other hand, according to the rules of natural justice, individual justice, to which every human being is entitled, has to be applied. This means that each affected athlete must be given the opportunity to rebut the applicability of collective responsibility in his or her individual case.

After deliberating, the IOC EB decided:

1. The IOC will not accept any entry of any Russian athlete in the Olympic Games Rio 2016 unless such athlete can meet the conditions set out below.

2. Entry will be accepted by the IOC only if an athlete is able to provide evidence to the full satisfaction of his or her International Federation (IF) in relation to the following criteria:

• The IFs*, when establishing their pool of eligible Russian athletes, to apply the World Anti-Doping Code and other principles agreed by the Olympic Summit (21 June 2016).

• The absence of a positive national anti-doping test cannot be considered sufficient by the IFs.

• The IFs should carry out an individual analysis of each athlete’s anti-doping record, taking into account only reliable adequate international tests, and the specificities of the athlete’s sport and its rules, in order to ensure a level playing field.

• The IFs to examine the information contained in the IP Report, and for such purpose seek from WADA the names of athletes and National Federations (NFs) implicated. Nobody implicated, be it an athlete, an official, or an NF, may be accepted for entry or accreditation for the Olympic Games.

• The IFs will also have to apply their respective rules in relation to the sanctioning of entire NFs.

3. The ROC is not allowed to enter any athlete for the Olympic Games Rio 2016 who has ever been sanctioned for doping, even if he or she has served the sanction.

4. The IOC will accept an entry by the ROC only if the athlete’s IF is satisfied that the evidence provided meets conditions 2 and 3 above and if it is upheld by an expert from the CAS list of arbitrators appointed by an ICAS Member, independent from any sports organisation involved in the Olympic Games Rio 2016.

5. The entry of any Russian athlete ultimately accepted by the IOC will be subject to a rigorous additional out-of-competition testing programme in coordination with the relevant IF and WADA. Any non-availability for this programme will lead to the immediate withdrawal of the accreditation by the IOC.

Beyond these decisions, the IOC EB reaffirmed the provisional measures already taken on 19 July 2016. They remain in place until 31 December 2016, and will be reviewed by the EB in December 2016.

Click here to read the FULL STATEMENT.

Background Information to the decision of the IOC Executive Board (1/2)

— IOC MEDIA (@iocmedia) July 24, 2016

concerning the participation of Russian athletes in the Olympic Games Rio 2016 https://t.co/rClZyY3QV5 (2/2)

— IOC MEDIA (@iocmedia) July 24, 2016

The Possible Replacements

After hearing the possibility this evening of the entire Russian Olympic team being excluded from the Rio Olympics for doping violations, I started to look through the FIVB Regulations to determine which team or teams could replace the Russians for the men’s and women’s tournaments.

According to the FIVB Qualification Systems published in February 2015, (accessible at the following address: www.nocnsf.nl/stream/normen-en-limieten-os-rio-volleybal-int) Rule F. Allocation of Unused Quota Place would be applied to both men’s and women’s tournaments.

Rule F states, “If an allocated quota place is not confirmed by the NOC by the confirmation of quota place deadline or is declined by the NOC, the quota place will be reallocated to the next best ranked NOC, not yet qualified in the competition where the quota place was obtained.”

Well, Russia had actually accepted for both its men’s and women’s teams.

However, if they are excluded from both men’s and women’s tournaments, then their qualifying spots would be eliminated. For the Women’s European Qualifiers, Netherlands (2nd) and Italy (3rd) both qualified through the World Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Japan. The fourth place team in European Qualifying was Turkey.

For the Men’s European Qualifiers, France (2nd) and Poland (3rd) both qualified through the World Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Japan. The fourth place team in European Qualifying was Germany.

If the FIVB sticks with their rules at the beginning of the tournament then it appears that Turkey (women) and Germany (men) will be the announced teams. However, if the FIVB decided to alter the rules to say the highest non-qualified team as of January 2016, for the women it would be the Dominican Republic (7th) and for the men Bulgaria (7th). Lastly, the FIVB could say that given the time constraint, they will use the most recent ranking after the World League and World Grand Prix. For the women, it would still be the Dominican Republic. While for the me it would be Germany.

This article is written by Volleywood correspondent Jeremy Brahm. The views and opinions expressed on this article do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of Volleywood.net.

Russia To Be Banned From Rio

Daily Mail: The entire Russian Olympic team will today be banned from competing at the Rio Games next month, The Mail on Sunday understands.

According to well-placed sources, the International Olympic Committee will punish all 387 Russian sportsmen and women in the strongest possible way after revelations of their country’s state-sponsored doping programme shocked the world.

ENTIRE Russian team of 387 athletes will be banned from competing at the Rio Olympics https://t.co/NgaXQCiIql

— Daily Mail Online (@MailOnline) July 23, 2016

The IOC, the FIVB & the CEV have not confirmed the news. ‪

CEV President Speaks Up

From cev.lu:

The European Volleyball Confederation gives full support to the participation of all Volleyball teams of Russia, Men and Women, Indoor and Beach, as with their sports quality, outstanding performance and results achieved, qualified for the Olympic Games in Rio 2016.

We deem that the Men’s and Women’s National Teams of Russia, having taken part in various top events under the auspices of both FIVB and CEV and with constant monitoring and control, proved that they have attained excellent results in a correct and sportive manner.

I would like to express gratefulness to the FIVB and in particular to the FIVB President, Dr Ary S. Graça F°, for his support to the athletes who, without any stimuli accomplished exceptional results.

The task of the FIVB and the CEV was, is and will be always to prevent all abuse in sports and Volleyball in particular, including, but not limited to doping, betting, corruption and discrimination of all kind, as well as all other cases that do not belong to the Olympic movement and ideals and to sport in general.

On behalf of all members of the Volleyball family, we would like to convey to Russian Volleyball players and Teams the message that they should continue to train and prepare hard and we wish them and all other participants of the Olympic Volleyball Tournament in Rio to achieve the best possible results and to show that Volleyball is one of the best and most beautiful sports in the whole world!

Aleksandar BORIČIĆ
CEV President

10 Volleyball Players: GUILTY (?)

It has been reported that 10 volleyball players, 8 indoor and 2 beach, are guilty of doping. Now, the FIVB is requesting WADA to release the names.

From the FIVB:

“The FIVB acknowledges receipt of the McLaren Report and has since sent a letter to WADA asking clarification and information regarding the eight volleyball and two beach volleyball Disappearing Positive Test Results referenced in the report.

There will be no further comment by the FIVB until it receives feedback from WADA.”

Click here to read the full article.

We wonder if 8 of those players were on the 2012 Olympic team that won GOLD. If yes, would the FIVB take the GOLD away from them and give it to Brazil, silver to Italy and bronze to Bulgaria?

Stay tuned.

FIVB IMAGE

The Russian Doping Scandal

First, let’s start with this SHOCKING news:

The World Anti Doping Agency has released a report with what it calls evidence of unprecedented doping conspiracy at the highest levels of Russian sports during the 2014 Sochi Olympics. WSJ’s Matthew Futterman joins Tanya Rivero to discuss what might be the consequences for the Russian teams at the Rio Games

Click here to read FULL STATEMENT from the IOC.

FIVB & Athletes Speak Up

“The FIVB has zero-tolerance towards doping but the FIVB is also confident there are no major issues with the anti-doping process concerning Russian volleyball players since much of the testing analysis is done outside Russia, primarily in Germany. The FIVB cannot punish the Russian national teams simply because of problems in some other sports.” –FIVB President Graça

“It is a decision that has to be very well thought out and studied because there is much more innocent athletes than those doped. You cannot take an attitude without thinking of the innocent. It is a drastic decision that can punish good athletes that do not indulge in doping.” -Brazilian beach volleyball player Emanuel Rego.

“We have seen many Russian athletes in various sports being punished for doping. Prohibit Russia to compete in the Olympics will take much of the brightness of the competition, but it is necessary to consider curbing doping.” -Brazilina player GIBA.

“If the FIVB and the IOC are convinced that they [Russians] are not involved with the state sponsored doping program then there is no need for them to be sanctioned for other disciplines’ wrong-doing.” -German beach volleyball player Laura Ludwig

“The obviously state supported doping scheme at the Sochi Olympics shocked me but it does not make me think that all Russian athletes were/are doped and must be banned. To ban a whole nation from the Olympic Games will always hit those who are clean and punish them.” -German beach volleyball player Julius Brink

Gamova Calls For Support!

The now retired Gamova has posted this message on her Facebook:

Друзья, завтра один из самых важных и ответственных дней для нашего Российского Спорта! Я не хочу поверить в то, что болельщики не смогут увидеть победы наших спортсменов на олимпиаде, я не хочу верить в то, что наши ребята и девчонки, которые трудом и потом становились лучшими на одной пятой части континента, не смогут принять участие в Рио! Я не хочу верить и не верю, что во всем виноваты какие-то внешние и внутренние силы! Я верю в силу и мужество наших спортсменов и я ОООЧЕНЬ верю в то, что мы будем на Олимпиаде гордо поднимать флаг нашей страны!!!🇷🇺🇷🇺🇷🇺 Friends, tomorrow is an important day for the Russian sports! I believe that our athletes will be at the Olympics in Rio !!!🇷🇺🇷🇺🇷🇺

Friends, tomorrow is one of the most important and responsible days for our Russian Sports! I don’t want to believe in something that the fans will not be able to see the victory of our athletes in the Olympics, I don’t want to believe in what our guys and girls who work and then became the best at one fifth of the continent, will not be able to take part in Rio! I don’t want to believe, and I don’t believe that the fault of the external and internal forces! I believe in the strength and courage of our athletes and I sooo believe in something that we will be in the Olympics Proudly to raise the flag of our country!!! 🇷🇺🇷🇺🇷🇺 friends, tomorrow is an important day for the English Sports! I believe that our athletes will be at the OLYMPICS IN RIO!!! 🇷🇺🇷🇺🇷🇺

Should Russia Be Banned From The Olympics?