tampering is that enough to produce a lifetime bad is that enough to strip the clean watch an athlete's of the right to carry the russian flags at the winter olympics and yung chang the answer for many here in russia would be no unlike the reaction that we've been getting from some other limbic officials mainly from the west for example tracy crouch the british sports minister is pleased that the i.o.c. has taken the decision she tweeted this it's an important step in protecting the integrity of sport and gives confort to our athletes that are competing on a level playing field then let's move on to a reaction from the president of the german olympic sports confederation he called tuesday a good day for international sport and a good day for german sport i suppose it should briefly at exam do you call through to the head of the russian olympic committee he said the size and downsides to what

happened today so it's a bit unclear at the moment what sort of action russia will take if any alien know you were in south korea two recent what do people make of the russian doping scandal and perhaps not seeing team russia well i was in seoul which is not the capital of the winter olympics to a meeting but that's the biggest city of south korea that is the capital of south korea and of course people there are in the high interest of patients of that big event i asked them a thing you know stuff about the washing doping scandal most of them were surprised that there is a chance that team russia which is an olympic sports powerhouse especially when it comes to the winter disciplines may miss out on it and now we do stand with the rule there will be no team russia at the winter olympics and kyung chang so i walked around i talked to the people and let's see what they told me. well. south korea first bid to become the home of winter olympics almost sixteen years ago in

two thousand and eight young chang lost to russia's tsotsi but south koreans hung in there and eventually did manage to make their dream come true. but at the had over ceremony and saw it she who would have thought that russia a winter sports powerhouse could end up missing out on the games in four years no washing flags in korea in two months with the locals miss them. have you heard about the russian doping scandal no i haven't heard. i don't know about is this a repeat yeah yeah i've never heard this so in the lack of any stripe but i. i heard to use some medicine yeah her face i don't know the history of each kind of . what do you think

the winter olympics would be like without russia. yeah he's a little bit boring a little bit for us is the strongest country. people have but it's just like. the international soccer game spain the you know and it's not really a game when the biggest player is not there and we don't even see right now. i think it's unfair only if you have any doubts as well based on the people that the winter olympics but no russia. than a whole country that's so few political stuff. to try and go and the south korean capital which is looking forward to the country's first ever winter olympics that will happen without team russia. before the ice ages. and youngsters from hockey clubs across russia have show their support for the nation for please by organizing a flash mob online chanting we want to go to the olympics.

ok we're going to bring in dan kadlec human labor rights lawyer and author thanks for coming on to the program dan. let's look at the decision that's been made some say is the fairest option that's going to be a lot of mixed reaction there what are your thoughts on it. well honestly i was surprised given that only a couple months ago the world and doping agency had one concluded that there was not good evidence. for in regards to ninety

five ninety six of the russian athletes who were claimed to have doped. and also the same agency water for short also was critical of those who are calling for a possible banning of russia from the winter games so i'm a little surprised that the international olympic committee took this action in light of. the world anti-doping agency's own conclusions don if you will so surprised by the decision that's made want decision do you think they should have made. i mean honestly i am concerned about the polluted politicize ation of the olympics i would have liked to have seen them allow russia to participate. if there were individual athletes that had doping issues they could have banned those individual athletes but to ban the entire country and to only allow some athletes to participate under

a neutral flag. just doesn't seem to fit into the spirit of the olympics or the whole idea of being kind of bring peace and harmony to the community of nations and this just seems russia just seems perennially in the penalty box so to speak and that concerns me greatly all the boxing ring i would say down xandra him the. one issue that's come out of this today it was clear that they didn't think it was state sponsored this doping scandal. commission as opposed to my i.o.c. website it says that. they have not found any document independent and impartial evidence confirming the support all the knowledge at the highest state authority and yet we hear all we have heard for the last two or three years it was state sponsored and yet here we have the final report in the matter saying we don't

believe it was. yeah yeah and again you have these other conclusions by the world anti-doping agency which cut against. these doping allegations yes so it's of grave concern and if it was not state sponsored then the state in this case russia should not be penalized and banned from the game so i think it's fair of grave concern of the other thing i'd like to know is the other scandal that's not getting the attention it deserves frankly is the massive sexual assault allegations that seem to be true by american gymnast against their coaches apparently that's gone on for years which frankly i think is a lot more serious than doping. and yet we hear little about that there doesn't appear to be any sanctions that are going to follow on from. what's interesting about this stand when you listen to what was said today i mean you know there's

this confusion about was it a state sponsored wasn't you know it's gone on for so long but they did say today that the russian sports minister was responsible for the failure of the system. that could be legal and contractual responsibility so they might not pointed the finger at the state sponsor doping but do you think this is this is just another way isn't it solely. well it is in again the world anti-doping agency recently opined that russia had been making great strides towards guaranteeing that this would not happen again and again if that is true if russia is making progress in this regard if it wasn't state sponsored to begin with then i think they should be allowed to participate i mean frankly it punishes i was going to i don't see good point because what is said that russia is not complying because it won't admit to state sponsored doping today the i.o.c.

is head as far as we're concerned there's no obvious evidence well there's no evidence of state sponsored doping at the highest level they blame the sports ministry but essentially what it should russia to be compliant again. well agreed and you know it's this just seems to be part and parcel of this whole anti russia. drum be where you are apparently evidence is never necessary just me or allegations and innuendo frankly and sometimes just pure fantasy and i'm just very concerned what this is going to do frankly just all relations with russia they're just going to sour even more and to have that kind of souring between two great nuclear powers is not something any of us should feel comfortable about. i was listening to the russian authorities today and they were saying at the end of these winter games when we get to the closing ceremony we believe we will be

able to see wave all russian flag again and potentially maybe hit the russian and i'm not sure but they'll be able to wear you know the russian colors again and hold the russian flag they fail it will draw a line under this whole episode do you think that will be the case if you think this is just stigmatized russian athletes forever. i can't believe it would stigmatize them forever i mean look. u.s. has had the doping scandal in baseball the u.s. team has had the doping scandal in the tour de france. you know i think people have gotten over those things. i'd like to think you know that this would not stigmatize them forever but you know it seems like countries especially the u.s. canada and great britain would like to be stigmatized forever and i don't go along with that dan one of the other things that i think is the russian officials that

when they spoke today said that they're hoping that these russian athletes that clean athletes those individuals will build bridges you know will that will this draw a line under the whole repeated press negative press that we see against russia and of doping to think they go ahead and they complete i think you know. i think so that they have to compete under this so-called neutral flag is going to be pretty you know appearance at the olympics it's going to kind of stick out like a sore thumb. and yeah i mean i think frankly would be hard for me in the same situation to be you know they're basically. you know going to wear you know like. the symbol for the nathaniel hawthorne's book write the scarlet letter on them. you know i just think it's it's not appropriate. ok dan that we're going to leave it

there always good to see that was a human and labor rights lawyer thank you. thank you mind and the international olympic committee has banned russia from the twenty eighteen winter games accusing it of running a state sponsored doping program individual athlete to mclean will be permitted to compete as neutrals but only under strict conditions will be given the title athlete from russia their country's flag and will be banned to. the russian figure skating coach tatiana has reacted to the decision she says it is the worst possible. because there are no words you know i don't want to cry i want to scream the fact they're asked leitz have been allowed to compete as neutrals but have to call themselves olympic athletes from russia i think this is the worst outcome.

ok joining us live now is not to say a church who is in all sound for us back again and you've been following what's been going on now the russian flag a lot of them found from the games can you take us through what was said. well learned here it's been a very tense day here in lockdown this press room where we're currently standing has been packed by journalists throughout the day expecting what is going to be announced with several options being allegedly considered by the international olympic committee executive board who have been meeting behind closed doors throughout this day to try to figure out what their final decision on russia's decision or not the city should be would be in these winter games coming up in just two months from today and of course this decision that was announced here just

a little bit earlier was seen as highly disappointing not just to the russian athletes who of course take it as a source of specific pride to be able to compete under their own flag here their own somewhere russian uniform but also to of course the millions of fans who are following the olympic games and of course russia has been throughout the years such an olympic powerhouse when it comes to these competitions but this is been seen as hugely disappointing for all of those people now in terms of the decision that was announced we heard the i.o.c. say that this follows sort of a massive manipulation of doping a result they are claiming that this is something that is going to be. unless and move forward with the situation but of course russia we know has been denying the allegations made against the against them when it comes to this whole scandal now in terms of the sanctions of course it's not just individual athletes are going to be able to compete under a neutral flag but also of course russia itself has been suspended so the russian

olympic team there's not going to be one this time around and apart from that we have also seen a series of other sanctions being announced among them quite a hefty fine for russia to pay fifteen million u.s. dollars as part of a sort of footing the bill for the inquiries held by several commissions leading up to this decision being made as well as we do know that the officials from the russian sports ministry are not going to be able to be present or credentialed in these upcoming another step that was included today exclusion of the minister of sports at the time of the sochi olympics and twenty four team as well as his deputy from any participation in all future games as well as the suspension all of the president of the russian olympic committee for as an i.o.c. member now all of that said we have to keep in mind that the i.o.c. has said that this may partially or fully we have to this is pension of the russian olympic team at the commencement of the closing ceremony of these upcoming games

provided these decisions are fully respected and implemented by the russian olympic committee and we heard the president of the russian olympic committee make a statement on those comments let's take a listen. she's russian athletes will participate in the olympics under a neutral flag and without the national anthem but this restriction is valid only until the last day of the games we still believe that all restrictions on russia will be cancelled on the final day so that our athletes can march under a russian flag together with other teams from the rest of the world. this decision will be discussed further and the final. it will take place later. well obviously a huge decision announced here in the design today hopes are still around that potentially towards the end of the game as we just heard the russian flag may somehow here but that's a big question given that not very much time was left in the lead up to these games that again are just going to be held starting the beginning of february. ok thanks

on the situation our reporting from. up to date. now in the run up to the i.o.c. meeting there had been plenty of intense pressure for a total ban on russia anti-doping officials and even their fleets to from other nations we're demanding a full suspension of the country russia denies the existence of a government sanctioned calling the unprecedented actions already taken by the i.o.c. politically motivated. the doping scandal was triggered back in twenty fifteen by the mclaren report published by a canadian lawyer however the document meant to prove widespread and state backed open violations and still being questioned over its supporting evidence. the damning mclaren reports on alleged state sponsored doping in russia has led to many athletes being stripped of their meadows and others prevented from taking part in major events including the olympics however a few things in the report just don't add up before we break them down it's worth

noting that the international olympic committee itself was not satisfied with the evidence in a letter to richard mclaren the i.o.c. ostrom more conclusive proof the document was covered with the phrase how to demonstrate almost every athlete's name moreover it was admitted by wada but in many cases the evidence provided may not be sufficient to bring successful cases dr richard mclaren's findings were issued in two parts they claim that over a thousand russian athletes were involved in a state sponsored doping program let's meet the report's star witness. the former head of a moscow anti doping lab he's facing charges over destroying test samples. and the e-mails presented as proof of state involvement come from his own computer. russian sports officials deny the allegations but did richard mclaren consider to get their side of the story i made

a decision that with fifty seven days to do my work i didn't have the time and they didn't seem to have the interest so i didn't do that that came after the first part of the reports issued in july twenty sixth. the second came six months later so the investigative team did eventually meet with some russian officials but not by. the sports minister at the time of the alleged undercover doping scheme. the central allegation of mclaren's report is that positive year in samples were systematically swapped for clean ones on top of that it describes how so. unless cafe granules were added to clean samples to make the match dirty ones and trick the testers. that information came courtesy of or a chunk of. another question this raises how do you swap the samples of a high security parcel which is swiss manufacturer guarantees can't be tampered

with richard mclaren doesn't have an answer on how the russians did it he just says it can be done and that's enough have seen it i've seen it done and i have inspected it and it can be done and can be reinserted we don't know how the russians did it but we know they can be done but despite all the questions and doubts over mclaren's evidence russian athletes are being punished on an unprecedented scale i have that we will be able to see some evidence for what they are being punished and that is not that there are some marks on the bottles because then i would be terribly afraid of giving samples. while investigative journalist rick sterling explained to us why he does believe mclaren reports lack credibility. the mclaren report has been unduly given a lot of credence in my opinion it's almost laughable how the how the assertions in that report are considered to be very profound and very well justified when

if you actually look at the if you read the report and look at his evidence there's very little there apart from the testimony of the chief culprit gregory roger before the first mclaren report mclaren actually refused to consider a written argument from the russian side he never went to russia never talked with russian authorities even though he was accusing them of. state sponsored doping and then in the second report he never made time again to talk with russian authorities the way he explained it is that he couldn't find a time that was convenient for him and for the appropriate russian authorities from the sports ministry so that's pretty up poor i mean it's a. fundamental principle of due process to listen to both sides of the story one could speculate that this is part that there's strong political bias at play here

it's it's evident that in western media there's much demonization of russia and the russian president. and one could speculate that this is politically motivated and goes back to the situation in the ukraine. and the situation in the middle east where russia has come to the support of the government in syria that the west was trying to overthrow but that would be that would be speculation but it be fairly reasonable i think. russian figure skater and twenty sixteen and twenty seventeen world champion the afghan. thinks it won't be fair if russia is excluded from team competition. but the main point of my speech was that my rivals during the olympic games will have a chance to compete two times as individuals and in a team but if russia isn't allowed to take part in a team competition every sportsman will have just one chance to win the medal i

think that is not fair. well before today's decision twenty five russian athletes were already banned from participating in the games by the commission which examined their cases many of them have been stripped of their medals that they won in sochi twenty fourteen which toppled russia from the medals table of the winter games back then the move then has shattered the athlete's dreams and ambitions. that sportsmen the more possible from somebody a lot of them. more the football anymore to be secretly to do this to you to smoke if so. that's a card that's called the look of the. bush

league of the history to show you know i mean that's the narrative and it does give good position for which bush is to. speak but it was the support of the seeds the public it's i think in the course was a full scholarship in the cherry picker to do it. and it's just going to be. the last one just popped up should have since been put upon the still could be a typical toilets in the us now of course just a taste of what that would feel but is it better that we should have gone for cuts can look on us and the war is not just for us it's getting a little bit and it and it also puts the reading list of symptoms of all kind of all of that have led to a little bit so it's ok it's not a political at that initial will more choice and freedom. you actually after you let's remind you about the decision on team russia first the international olympic committee says russian athletes can only compete under

a neutral flag participate under the title elim pick athlete from russia with the country's flag and symbols banned from the games the russian olympic committee has been suspended with immediate effect elliptic chiefs came to the decision after hearing the findings of more than a year long independent investigation into alleged state sponsored doping in russia the pro padded by the former swiss president samuel schmidt found evidence of the systemic manipulation of the anti doping rules and system i.o.c. president thomas barr branded the scandal as an unprecedented attack on the integrity of the elim pick games and sports. you want your tea in our coverage of this scandal and what it means for team russia for the upcoming winter games we're back with the latest in five minutes. the wealth concentration the beer traffic concentration is sapping the economic

vitality from this entrepreneurial nation called america and the machinations and the costs associated there with of keeping this year's prison population in place are geraniums money away from all aspects of society and you've got the problems that you would normally associate with the ghetto like people nodding out in the middle of the day in the middle of the street. gun some is not is not a quick place is not a good country. to just be just to minister to live bush for most of the storms. a visit of this but at this a disco that is glued. to the coach of. the coach it sure is with this good charging of christmas. just

a little embrace mobile soldier from the moment of oneself to be too little. play almost anything for the members for the most are not as they come out of that john and i'm based on the prototype no one can i do not believe as i would miss rice from practical matter how not eating. from a show cannot. shoot from a can know. i'm almost. too fuckin on the. cool road students who work in the sun and not hard to show huge boost who'd rather want to go to the cities in the micra voices in the city water who through the. snow move argue over you know the laundress. the cods who are supposed to. if you trust the mainstream media well then you're in the minority sadly a great deal of media today is not designed to inform but rather confirm political

biases this approach of the news is not only polarizing but it's also lowering journalistic standards this is why readers and viewers seek their news elsewhere. in the more. this i wrote the. following. in all. is from another from the. time they were in the us and the feeling. of. a thought that the.

join me every thursday on the alex simon short and i'll be speaking to guest of the world of politics sports business i'm sure i'll see you there.

was. breaking news on r.t. russia is banned from the twenty eighteen winter games but the international olympic committee chiefs have allowed individual athletes to compete under a neutral flag. dismay among team russia as things watched the announcement being delivered at the i.o.c. had quarters in switzerland. and i welcome you watching r.t. international with me andrew farmer and the deer a cheater now breaking news this hour russia has been banned from twenty three twenty eighteen winter games however individual athletes have been allowed to compete under a neutral flag bell person.