Orders doping investigation
President Putin has orders an investigation into claims by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), that the country’s athletes were using performance enhancing drugs during the 2012 London Olympics. WADA wants to ban Russian athletes from competing. Athletes who are found to be doping would have their Olympic Medals taken away from them and be banned from participating in future Olympic events. Putin said athletes should be punished individually, rather than collectively.
Sportsmen who don’t dope – and never have – must not answer for those who break the rules. If we find that someone must be held responsible for something of the sort that breaks the rules in place against doping, then the responsibility must be personalised – that’s the rule…The battle must be open. A sporting contest is only interesting when it is honest. It is essential that we conduct our own internal investigation and – I want to underline – provide the most open professional co-operation with international anti-doping structures
UN to examine chemical weapons attacks
The UN adopts a resolution aimed at identifying those behind chemical weapons attacks in Syria. Ban and the head of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) will be asked to prepare a plan for an inquiry. US ambassador to the UN, Power:
Today’s resolution has been adopted with the council’s unanimous support. This sends a clear and powerful message to all those involved in chemical weapons attacks in Syria. The joint investigative mechanism will identify you if you gas people. It bears repeating as well that we need to bring the same unity that we have shown today to urgently find a political solution to the Syrian crisis.”
The resolution follows months of negotiations between the US and Russia. Syria’s ambassador to the UN denies his government was behind the attacks, claiming the Islamic State (IS) group and the al-Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front are to blame. Under the terms of the agreement, a team of expert inspectors will be given full access where possible to all locations in Syria and be allowed to collect materials and interview witnesses. Churkin, the UN’s Russian representative, says he hopes that the joint investigative body will work
impartially, objectively and professionally.
The resolution calls for Ban and the OPCW to recommend a team of investigators within 20 days.