Media, Law & Policy

Expert Commentary: Systematic Doping Not Seen Since East Germany of the 70s and 80s

Tuesday, December 5, 2017, By Ellen Mbuqe

Attorney John Wolohan, a professor of Sports Law in the David B. Falk College of Sport and Human Dynamics at Syracuse University, is available to speak to the issues surrounding Russia being banned from the 2018 winter Olympics in South Korea.

Wolohan , who studies and writes about doping in sports, said that the systematic doping that Russia was found guilty of by the IOC has not been “seen in the Olympics since the East Germans of the 1970s and 1980s.”

“The decision of the IOC to ban Russia sends a clear message that it believed that the Russian government and the Russian Olympic Committee were engaged in systematic cheating that robbed clean athletes of medals at Sochi,” said Wolohan.

“Although they were criticized for allowing Russian athletes to compete in Rio, today’s actions by the IOC send a strong message that doping will not be allowed in the future,” says Wolohan.

He did mention that banning Russia does come with hazards.

“Russia is one of the biggest winter Olympic participants, by banning them, the IOC risks the success of the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea,” says Wolohan.

To set up an interview with Professor Wolohan, please contact Ellen James Mbuqe, director of news and PR at Syracuse University, at ejmbuqe@syr.edu or 315.443.1897 or Keith Kobland, media manager at Syracuse University, at kkboland@syr.edu or 315.443.9038.