Reading between the lines and mirrors
Crazy Monday: Putin's henchman Kremlev at the IBA, Rodchenkov on Russia's Wanted List, the cowardly irresponsibility of the IOC and one of the most bizarre press conferences of all time.
russia
Stepanovs: Russian whistleblowers likely have to wait for US asylum beyond 2030
The CEO of USADA urges the United States Citizenship and Immigration Services to expedite Yuliya and Vitaly Stepanov’s 2016 application for asylum in the US after WADA and the international Olympic sport failed to help the Russian couple.
The case Imane Khelif: this is the Kremlin speaking
Russia's will and IOC' gigantic failure: The IOC should have been better prepared, first and foremost to protect the athletes involved and to ensure the integrity of the Olympic competition. That did not happen. The victims are, as always, the athletes.
"There is no festival of peace for us"
The Ukrainians present themselves as proud and self-confident, sad and thoughtful, and ready to give their all in the Olympic arenas. "Each of us thinks about the people who are defending our country," says Olympic champion Olha Kharlan. "It's hard, but that makes us even stronger!"
THE INQUISITOR project, Paris 2024, journalism vs propaganda – and you!
About our Olympic coverage, our Paris 2024 ticket, our way of journalism, the latest articles by Romain Molina and two outstanding TV documentaries you shouldn't miss.
Nordic Noir (5): former IBU president Besseberg sentenced to prison on corruption charges
A court in Norway has found the former IBU president Anders Besseberg guilty in 9 out of 11 charges of corruption. He was sentenced to three years and one month in prison. The 78-year-old Norwegian is appealing the sentence.
Indiscreet and unprofessional: the IOC Sun King in a prank conversation with an alleged African politician
Thomas Bach fell for pranksters. Of course, this has also happened to high-ranking politicians in recent years. However, it surprises how arrogantly amateurish the IOC Sun King acts. What do his many princely-paid directors actually do for a living if they advise Bach incredibly badly?
Ten reasons why IOC's Sun King Thomas Bach is causing irreparable damage to the Olympic movement
The IOC president sought to get close to Putin even after the Sochi Doping Games. He fraternised with Xi Jinping. He politicised the 2018 Games in South Korea, driven by the dream of the Nobel Peace Prize. All a miserable failure that dragged the Games deeper into a political quagmire. A commentary.
Why did WADA re-instate North Korea against all reasonable doubt?
In January, WADA removed North Korea from the global list of non-compliant signatories of the World Anti-Doping Code. The decision was based on a single mission inside the dictatorship in four years. Although, according to ITA the situation in North Korea raises "a number of legitimate concerns".
The tentacles of the Russian state invade Kamila Valieva
Is it still state doping in Russia under the supervision of the FMBA? Russian athletes are spoilt for choice between the carrot and the stick. Either they toe the FMBA line and compete, or face the wrath of the Russian state and expulsion from the sport.
Nordic Noir (3): the naked truth of Scandinavian sports corruption
The prosecutor in the criminal trial against the former IBU president Anders Besseberg calls for an unconditional sentence of 3 years and 7 months in prison. The verdict will be handed down on 12 April. Besseberg describes himself as the victim of a hounding: like a "wild boar" that must be shot.
Ten years after the toxic Sochi Olympics: a Russian strawberry dessert
On the day of the tenth anniversary of the Sochi Doping Games, the Court of Arbitration for Sport published the Arbitral Award in the Kamila Valieva doping case. THE INQUISITOR will be honouring the Russia entanglements of the IOC and the world sports federations in detail this month.
Calls for Israel to be banned from the Olympics: influenced by ideological-religious whataboutism
For several weeks now, an online petition has been calling for "Suspend Israel from International Sports". The appeal was launched by the left-wing collective movement DiEM25. In the petition paper, fundamental facts are being omitted or deliberately distorted.
Kamila Valieva is banned retrospectively for four years
In a crushing blow for Vladimir Putin's old-style propaganda system and its systematic doping of young athletes, figure skater Kamila Valieva has been handed a four-year suspension for her positive test in the run-up to the 2022 Winter Olympic in Beijing.
Nordic Noir (1): Besseberg, the IBU, Infront, Russia and the Olympic way of corruption
Anders Besseberg, former president of the International Biathlon Union, risks ten years in prison for corruption in a true Nordic Noir crime case that has exposed one of the largest sports scandals in the Nordic democracies in 25 years. Further investigations in other countries are still ongoing.
Touche fatale: what's going on in French fencing?
A few month before the Olympic Games, heralded by the IOC as a renewal of the movement, French sports are still tainted by the most serious scandals at all levels. The latest instance being the mysterious departure of the former president of the fencing federation, Bruno Gares.