Head of IOC inquiry into Russian doping steps down

LAUSANNE, Switzerland — The former French judge heading an IOC investigation into Russian doping stepped down on Tuesday, three days before the release of a new report into systematic cheating at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi.

Guy Canivet, a former judge of the constitutional Court, resigned purely for “personal reasons,” the International Olympic Committee said.

Canivet leaves as vice chairman of the IOC ethics commission and as chairman of the inquiry commission looking into evidence of state-backed Russian doping, a position he began in July.

Canivet will be replaced as head of the IOC inquiry panel by former Swiss president Samuel Schmid, who is also a member of the IOC ethics commission.

IOC spokesman Mark Adams said the change should not hamper or slow down the investigation.

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“Mr. Canivet has strong personal reasons for resigning,” Adams said. “The succession and handover has been assured and I don’t see any particular delay.”

Canivet’s resignation precedes Friday’s publication of the latest report by World Anti-Doping Agency investigator Richard McLaren into alleged state-sponsored Russian doping.

The Canadian lawyer’s first report, issued in July, led WADA to recommend Russia’s exclusion from the Rio de Janeiro Olympics. The IOC rejected the call, instead allowing international federations to decide which Russians could compete.

Friday’s report is expected to focus on evidence of organized Russian doping centred on the Sochi Games, including allegations that tainted samples of Russian athletes — including medallists — were swapped for clean ones through a concealed hole in the wall of the drug-testing lab.

Adams said the IOC has not been given any access to McLaren’s report ahead of Friday’s release at a news conference in London.

Without knowing the contents, the IOC executive board is expected to issue a statement this week setting out how it will deal with the new findings — including the possibility of stiff sanctions ahead of the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

The report will be sent to two IOC inquiry commissions. Canivet’s panel has been looking into the Russian system as a whole, while Swiss member Denis Oswald leads a commission focusing on the Sochi doping samples.

“It will be done in a timely fashion that will work for Pyeongchang,” Adams said.

IOC President Thomas Bach said last month that once the investigations and hearings are completed, the IOC will take “the necessary measures and all the sanctions because if only part of this would be true, it would be an unprecedented attack on the integrity on the Olympic Games and on the Olympic competitions.”

Stephen Wilson, The Associated Press