Anyone with a passion for sport will have been dismayed to read this week's headlines on athletics and its international federation, the IAAF. The World Anti-Doping Agency believes that the IAAF council “could not have been unaware of the extent of doping in athletics” – but should cycling be happy that it’s no longer viewed as sport’s basket case?
When Lance Armstrong’s cheating was revealed in 2012, the US Anti-Doping Agency labelled it the “most sophisticated, professionalised and successful doping programme that sport has ever seen”. Given its charismatic, flawed frontman, the Armstrong doping case remains a gripping scandal, but in terms of grand deceptions, the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) unflinching report into alleged wrong-doing in Russian athletics tops the Texan in the treachery stakes.
Related: Lance Armstrong biopic has nothing new for those in the know
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Former WADA president Dick Pound’s report accused Russia of running a state-sponsored doping scheme, with the international federation, the IAAF, alleged to be complicit in failing to follow up on suspicious tests.
Russia has been suspended from the sport and recently departed IAAF president Lamine Diack arrested and charged with covering up positive tests. While cycling’s name has long been mud, many fans feel their sport has copped too much of the flack. What about athletics, or tennis, rugby or football, they ask. There’s a case to be made that if certain sports don’t believe they have a drugs problem, they’re living with their heads buried in the sand.
A tough place to dope
Tip of the iceberg
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