[Source: The World Anti-Doping Agency] WADA confirms that a Russian cyber espionage group operator by the name of Tsar Team (APT28), also known as Fancy Bear, illegally gained access to WADA’s Anti-Doping Administration and Management System (ADAMS) database via an International Olympic Committee (IOC)-created account for the Rio 2016 Games. The group accessed athlete data, including confidential medical data – such as Therapeutic Use Exemptions delivered by International Sports Federations (IFs) and National Anti-Doping Organizations (NADOs) – related to the Rio Games; and, subsequently released some of the data in the public domain, accompanied by the threat that they will release more.

While it is an evolving situation, at present, we believe that access to ADAMS was obtained through spear phishing of email accounts; whereby, ADAMS passwords were obtained enabling access to ADAMS account information confined to the Rio 2016 Games. At present, we have no reason to believe that other ADAMS data has been compromised.

“WADA deeply regrets this situation and is very conscious of the threat that it represents to athletes whose confidential information has been divulged through this criminal act,” said Olivier Niggli, Director General, WADA. “We are reaching out to stakeholders, such as the IOC, IFs and NADOs, regarding the specific athletes impacted,” he continued.

“WADA condemns these ongoing cyber-attacks that are being carried out in an attempt to undermine WADA and the global anti-doping system,” said Niggli. “WADA has been informed by law enforcement authorities that these attacks are originating out of Russia,” he continued.

Let it be known that these criminal acts are greatly compromising the effort by the global anti-doping community to re-establish trust in Russia further to the outcomes of the Agency’s independent McLaren Investigation Report,” Niggli continued.

WADA is taking this attack very seriously. The Agency extended its investigation with the relevant law enforcement authorities; is conducting internal and external security vulnerability checks; and, is taking the necessary measures to ensure that stakeholders securely manage ADAMS passwords and its usage.

This attack comes on the heels of the early August incident,; whereby Yuliya Stepanova’s password for ADAMS was illegally obtained, which allowed a perpetrator to access her account on ADAMS. Ms. Stepanova was the key whistleblower for WADA’s Independent Pound Commission that exposed widespread doping in Russian athletics. 

[SOURCE: WADA]

The Tokyo 2020 Olympic bid committee did nothing wrong in making payments to the Black Tidings consulting company during its campaign, the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) has concluded after an investigation into allegations of illegal activities.  

The Guardian newspaper in the UK revealed in May that the Tokyo 2020 Olympic bid committee had made a payment of GB£1m to Black Tidings – a company headed by Singaporean consultant Ian Tan Tong Han.

Tan has since the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games been a close associate of Papa Massata Diack, the son of Lamine Diack – who himself resigned from the IOC amid claims that he accepted bribes to cover up positive drugs tests when he was president of the International Association of Athletics Federation.

The payment to Black Tidings, reportedly signed off by JOC President Tsunekazu Takeda, was the subject of an investigation by French police into whether the money was connected to votes in the host city election.

But the report by the JOC, released on Thursday, said there was no evidence that the relationship between the Tokyo 2020 bid committee and Tan was “illegal or invalid under the civil laws or criminal laws of Japan, and there is no doubt that it is lawful”.

The JOC also said the payment did not break French laws or violate any IOC ethical guidelines.

“I believe that Tokyo has been cleared of any suspicion of bribery”, said Yoshihisa Hayakawa, a lawyer who led the three-member panel told the Guardian.

The news comes shortly after the recently elected Yuriko Koike governor of Tokyo hit out against the spiralling cost of hosting the 2020 Olympic Games, saying that the plan needs to become sustainable and credible again.

In a video interview with the Wall Street Journal, Koike said: “The budget for Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic games is currently increasing.

“I think we need to go back to our original plan of sustainability and credibility, and make a plan once again. This is what I have come to believe.”

Since Tokyo won the bid to host the Games, Zaha Hadid’s initial designs for the main stadium have been rejected due to cost concerns. The Games logo also had to be redesigned due to allegations of plagiarism.

And the former Tokyo Governor Yoichi Masuzoe resigned in June 2016 over a scandal relating to public funds for personal use.

The new Governor Koike, appointed at the end of July, has highlighted sustainability as an area of focus for the Games. “Spending money does not necessarily lead to improved result,” she said. “The keyword is the three Rs: reduce reuse and recycle.”

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (ONODC) and the International Centre for Sports Security (ICSS) have launched a new resource guide to help law enforcement and sports organisations better detect and investigate match-fixing and cases of sports-results manipulation.

“The joy that sports bring to billions of fans around the world can so easily be marred by crooked practices such as match-fixing,” writes Yuri Fedotov, Executive Director of the UNODC in the foreword to the guide. “The best way to tackle these threats is through a multi stakeholder approach.”

The Resource Guide on Good Practices in the Investigation of Match-Fixing was launched on Tuesday alongside a meeting of the Open-ended Intergovernmental Working Group on the Prevention of Corruption, attended by representatives of the 178 States parties to the United Nations Convention against corruption.

“The problem of match-fixing is such that it undermines integrity in sport with the significant illicit profits it generates allowing organized crime and corruption to thrive,” John Brandolino, UNODC Director for Treaty Affairs said at the launch of the resource guide.

“In addition, the investigative skills of both law enforcement agencies and sports organizations around the world which are needed to identify and apprehend those responsible, are relatively underdeveloped.

“The Resource Guide represents UNODC’s and ICSS’s efforts to address this shortage in skill among investigators in both law enforcement and sports organizations and to raise awareness among policy makers about the threat of match-fixing. It serves as an important tool for those seeking to understand the problem and to learn how to effectively investigate it.”

More than 40 experts contributed to the development of the resource guide, including officials from FIFA, the International Olympic Committee, INTERPOL, the European Commission, Hong Kong Jockey Club, World Snooker, Council of Europe, Ministries of Justice from France and the Republic of Korea, and EUROPOL.

“This handbook provides a comprehensive range of case studies, investigation techniques and approaches to combat match-fixing as well as providing valuable guidance on how to disrupt the international organized crime syndicates that now operate in sport,” said Mohammed Hanzab, President of ICSS.

“As the ICSS looks to build on this launch and work alongside the UNODC to develop a series of workshops and training courses in this area, this handbook will hopefully provide sport federations and law enforcement agencies with an important go-to-guide to detecting, investigating and prosecuting match-fixers and organized crime.”

The full Resource Guide can be read and downloaded on the UNODC website.

The International Olympic Committee has elected to change the composition of its Executive Board, promoting Prof. Uğur Erdener and Juan Antonio Samaranch to Vice Presidents.
Three new Executive Board members have been elected in  Gian Franco Kasper (SUI), Angela Ruggiero (USA) and Ser Miang Ng (SIN).

The new Vice Presidents Uğur Erdener and Juan Antonio Samaranch now replace Sir Craig Reedie CBE and Nawal El Moutawakel who have served their terms, having made immense contributions to Olympism.

Sir Craig Reedie and Uğur Erdener are both set to speak at Host City 2016 alongside several other key figures from the Olympic Movement and the wider event hosting world. 
A Professor of Ophthalmology, Uğur Erdener is the President of the Turkish National Olympic Committee, President of World Archery and Chair of the IOC Medical and Scientific Commission.  
“I am honoured to have been elected to the position of IOC Vice President,” said Prof Dr Erdener.

“The principles of Olympism are ever-more relevant in the modern world, and I am committed to supporting the goal of the IOC in building a peaceful and better world through sport.”
Prof Dr Erdener is the second World Archery President to have become an IOC Vice President. Jim Easton served in the role from 2002 to 2006.

Juan Antonio Samaranch is Vice President of the UIPM and Chair of the Board of directors of Olympic Channel Services. His father, of the same name, was IOC President from 1980 to 2001.
The changes to the Executive Board see the departure of René Fasel, Claudia Bokel, Anita Defrantz and Gunilla Lindberg.

Ching-Kuo Wu and Patrick Hickey are resuming their seats as representatives of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) and the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC) respectively. Also remaining on the Executive Board are Sergey Bubka and Willi Kaltschmitt.

The US ice hockey player Angela Ruggiero replaces outgoing German fencer Claudia Bokel on both the Executive Board and the IOC Athletes’ Commission. She joins the Executive Board at the same time René Fasel, IIHF president, leaves.

“René’s leadership has been inspiring, and I hope I can represent hockey with the same pride now that he is leaving,” she said.

These changes, as well as the election of eight new IOC members, were confirmed at the IOC Executive Board meeting at the outset of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. The newly composed Executive Board will begin its work after the Games.
 

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has taken note of the views expressed by some concerning the timing of publication of the Agency’s independent McLaren Investigation Report, which was published by Professor Richard H. McLaren on 18 July, exposing Russian State manipulation of the doping control process; and, the Agency’s subsequent recommendations – both that led to the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) decision of 24 July.
WADA understands that the timing of the McLaren Investigation Report has been destabilizing for a number of organizations as they prepare for the Rio Olympic and Paralympic Games. However, WADA wishes to factually clarify that the Agency acted immediately on allegations concerning Russia when it had corroborated evidence and the power to do so under the World Anti-Doping Code (Code).
When German-based ARD released their first documentary in December 2014 that contained corroborated evidence, WADA quickly initiated its Independent Commission. The Commission, which was chaired by Richard W. Pound, commenced its investigation in January 2015 when WADA acquired its new powers of investigation under the 2015 Code.
“While our Independent Commission’s Report suggested that doping in Russia was likely not restricted to athletics, and that the Russian secret services (FSB) were present within the Sochi and Moscow laboratories, the Commission did not uncover concrete evidence to the effect that the Russian state was manipulating the doping control process,” said Richard W. Pound. “The Pound Commission leveraged all information that the whistleblowers had provided; and yet, there was no concrete evidence to support State manipulation.”
On 9 November 2015, the Pound Commission reported and exposed wide-spread doping in Russian athletics; and, on 10 November 2015, WADA took quick and decisive action on the Commission’s recommendations.
“It was only when CBS 60 Minutes and the New York Times, on 8 and 12 May 2016 respectively, published the allegations from the former director of the Moscow and Sochi laboratories, Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov, that WADA had concrete evidence suggesting Russian state involvement that could be investigated by initiating the McLaren Investigation, which we did immediately,” said Craig Reedie, WADA President. “This decision was endorsed by WADA’s Executive Committee and WADA’s Athlete Committee,” he continued. “It must be understood that Dr. Rodchenkov was heard several times by the Pound Commission in 2015; and that, he never provided the information that he later revealed to the New York Times in May 2016. This information was subsequently corroborated by the McLaren Investigation, which also unveiled a wider implication of the Moscow laboratory.”
“WADA’s Executive Committee – composed in equal parts by representatives of the Olympic Movement and Governments of the world – supported Professor McLaren’s independent mandate, which was to obtain evidence as quickly as possible in the interest of clean athletes,” said Reedie. “While it is destabilizing in the lead up to the Games, it is obvious, given the seriousness of the revelations that he uncovered, that they had to be published and acted upon without delay.”
“Further to the International Olympic Committee’s criteria being outlined on 24 July, WADA has facilitated the transfer of relevant information that is available to date, concerning individual athletes, from the McLaren Investigation team to International Federations,” said Olivier Niggli, Director General, WADA. “It should be noted however that Professor McLaren’s focus thus far was on establishing involvement of the Russian State and not regarding individual athletes that may have benefitted,” Niggli continued. “WADA will continue supporting anti-doping organizations by providing information as and when it becomes available via McLaren’s ongoing Investigation.”
As it relates to WADA’s process of accreditation and proficiency testing of anti-doping laboratories, it focuses on the technical abilities of laboratories. In the case of the Moscow laboratory, WADA suspended the laboratory in 2015 as soon as breaches were identified via the Pound Commission. Addressing corruption within the anti-doping system – including state or secret service interference in laboratory operations – will be one of the topics discussed during the first in a series of multi-stakeholder Think Tanks that WADA will hold in September 2016.

Source: WADA

The IOC Executive Board on Tuesday said it will no longer back the 2019 European Games, set to take place in Russia, and has asked all Winter Olympic Sports Federations to find alternative host nations for any upcoming events. 
These immediate decisions are part of a number of IOC responses to the World Anti-Doping Association (WADA)’s “Independent Person” report into doping in Russia. 
“The IOC will not organise or give patronage to any sports event or meeting in Russia. This includes plans for the European Games 2019 organised by the European Olympic Committees (EOC),” the IOC Executive Board said in a statement. 
“Because of the detailed references to the manipulation of samples during the Olympic Winter Games Sochi 2014 the IOC asks all International Olympic Winter Sports Federations to freeze their preparations for major events in Russia, such as World Championships, World Cups or other major international competitions under their responsibility, and to actively look for alternative organisers,” it added.
“The findings of the report show a shocking and unprecedented attack on the integrity of sports and on the Olympic Games,” said IOC President Thomas Bach. “Therefore, the IOC will not hesitate to take the toughest sanctions available against any individual or organisation implicated.”
The report, by “independent person” Richard McLaren was instigated after Grigory Rodchenkov, former director of Russia’s Moscow and Sochi antidoping laboratories, blew the whistle on cover-ups.
“WADA is grateful to Richard McLaren, his team, and other contributors that, together, helped provide us with a fact-based path forward today as it relates to allegations and other information provided by Dr. Rodchenkov,” said Sir Craig Reedie, President of WADA said in a statement.
“Shamefully, the McLaren Report corroborates the allegations, exposing a modus operandi of serious manipulation of the doping control process in the satellite laboratory set up in Sochi for the 2014 Games; and, the Moscow laboratory since 2011 and after the Sochi Games.
“Not only does the evidence implicate the Russian Ministry of Sport in running a doping system that’s sole aim was to subvert the doping control process, it also states that there was active participation and assistance of the Federal Security Service and the Center of Sports Preparation of National Teams of Russia.”
The IOC has now started “disciplinary actions related to the involvement of officials within the Russian Ministry of Sports and other persons mentioned in the report because of violations of the Olympic Charter and the World Anti-Doping Code”.
The Report could result in a complete ban on Russian athletes participating in the 2016 Olympic Games, due to start in Rio de Janeiro on 5 August. 
In the statement, the IOC said it will “carefully evaluate the IP Report. It will explore the legal options with regard to a collective ban of all Russian athletes for the Olympic Games 2016 versus the right to individual justice. In this respect, the IOC will have to take the CAS decision on 21 July 2016 concerning the IAAF rules into consideration, as well as the World Anti-Doping Code and the Olympic Charter.”

For the full IOC Executive Board statement click here. 

Host City: Having experienced Paralympic Games since 1972, both as an athlete and administrator, what major changes have you seen in terms of participation and audience engagement?
Sir Philip Craven: My first Paralympics were in Heidelberg in ‘72. It was a relatively small affair but with an incredible passion for sport that has always been at the centre of the Paralympic movement.
Really the Games that made the biggest difference for me, despite the amazing London Games, was Barcelona in ’92. That was the first time that there were masses of spectators. It took a bit of time for athletes to get used to having packed stadia. That was a major moment. We again had an amazing Games in Sydney and things have just moved on from there. 
What we had to do as an organisation was to develop our organisation so we had sufficient competent and motivated staff that could work with organising committees and ensure that the Games would be of a very good standard and occasionally, when the planets came into total alignment, it would be amazing, like in Beijing and in London. 
When I came in I never used the “D-word”. It’s nothing to do with disability sports – this is international sport. We are an international sports organisation and therefore that’s been the emphasis all along. When you talk about sports, then you all get along far better together. That’s one of the reasons for the major rise, along with our capacity to work with organising committees, but always with athletes at the centre.  
These Games in Rio are going to be the greatest Games ever in terms of athletic performance. It’s amazing what’s been done in all of the sports; the amount of training that goes into being an international player is quite outstanding. 

Host City: Would you say London 2012 was the big step change in terms of public engagement and TV audience?
Sir Philip Craven: Definitely with regard to TV audiences. Channel 4 really got the ball and ran with it two years prior to the Games; there was an amazing transformation and that has been really infectious moving forward from London. They used former athletes as commentators, and they have become a totally integrated employer now.
In Rio there will be over a hundred nations taking a live feed of the Games from Rio around the world. We’ve signed our biggest deal ever with NHK in Japan going forward to the Tokyo Games in 2020 and beyond, to 2024. 
People love the Paralympics and the first place to be is at the Games. The unique sporting spirit there is something that I felt when I was playing wheelchair basketball because I loved the sport; I loved playing for the team. This spirit of the principles of what sport should be about has never been stronger with me. 

Host City: The motto of the Olympic Games is “faster, higher, stronger”; how does that differ to the Paralympics, in terms of the underlying principles of sport?
Sir Philip Craven: Our vision is “to enable Para athletes to achieve sporting excellence and to inspire and excite the world”. “Achieving sporting excellence” for me is at any level – it doesn’t have to be a Paralympic medal. 
And then “to inspire and excite the world”. But what happens before people are inspired and excited? They’re surprised, normally – I don’t know if they were expecting the basketball players to drop the ball – but they are surprised, then they are inspired, then they’re excited. Once that happens we can change the world. 
We know that the Paralympic Games has the greatest effect of any international sports competition in really delivering societal change – realising that we are all members of one planet and one society, and that we can all have a good time. 

Host City: It’s interesting what you say about the big societal impact of the Paralympic Games – we saw that in Beijing and London. But it seems the Olympic Games needs to assert its value now, with some of the big Olympic sports facing wave upon wave of doping allegations. Having recently chaired a panel discussion at the International Anti-Corruption Summit, what’s your view of that?
Sir Philip Craven: On what we have heard about in the media, it’s seen to have been denied by certain international federations. On the one hand I am saddened, on the other hand I am angered – because that is not what sport should be about. 
But I have to say, the IOC – of which I’ve been a member since 2003 – has done a lot of work to root out corruption from their own organisation and that’s going back now 15 or 16 years. And I think they continue to do that good work, taking an enlightened view of keeping samples from the Beijing Games and then retesting them. 
The IOC, IPC and WADA and all international sports federations are working very hard now, with increasing support from national governments and other international bodies. Corruption, as David Cameron said, is a cancer and we have to root it out. And that’s what we will work together to do. The change has to come from the inside of sport, and they have to be supported by people from other walks of life, from governments and it’s something we are going to fight with all our might. 

Host City: How optimistic are you that that this fight will be won?
Sir Philip Craven: I’m an eternal optimist; I can tell you that. It will be won. The key is it’s not just about bringing in rules and regulations that stop the corrupt; it’s bringing in methods where the non-corrupt are elected in the first place. 
If you look at the majority of international federations, you would find that that is the case. But of course when you find difficulties from certain federations, then they can influence the general view of what’s going on in all international sports federations. 
You can’t change cultures overnight, no matter what anybody says, no matter how much money you’ve got. Because normally those cultures have built up over many years so it takes time to change it. But there’s got to be a fundamental clear out and to start again. 

Host City: It strikes me these threats facing sports governance today are the polar opposite of the principles of sport, which should be about team play and rewarding endeavour.
Sir Philip Craven: The principles of what sport are really about are right at the centre of what we do. We’ve just had recent discussions in our governing board about this and we’ve brought in new controls on conflicts of interest, divulging whether you are involved with other organisations other than the International Paralympic Committee etc. – and we are very keen to bring these in. 
Fundamentally we are an absolutely transparent organisation; you can look at our accounts online whenever you wish to. If you are a transparent organisation then those sort of corrupt practices don’t have a chance to get going. 
I would say the high honour of Thomas Bach inviting me to chair the new Olympic Education Commission shows the clear intent of what you put very well when you talked about the principles of sport. It’s an absolute intent that there is a great strengthening of this, and that’s what sport needs. 
In fact that’s what the world needs – principles and common sense regulations – not things that are brought up by overpaid lawyers, but things that come out of how life should be and how people should get on with each other. That’s what I’m about!