28 Russian Olympians had their doping bans overturned. Was it inevitable?

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TODAY:

• Russians jubilant over decision on Olympic ban
• New evidence of possible genocide in Myanmar
• Australians caught up in boat-naming Scandy McScandalface

A sporting shock, but no surprise

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has overturned doping bans against 28 Russian athletes who were accused of cheating at the 2014 Sochi Games, reinstating their results and at least a half dozen Olympic medals.

The petitions of 11 other Russians who had appealed to sport's court of last resort were rejected, and their lifetime bans upheld. Three more cases have yet to be decided.

The news, less than two weeks before the start of the Pyeongchang Winter Games, sent shockwaves through the Olympic movement, but it shouldn't have come as a total surprise.

There can be little question that the Russians engaged in mass, government-directed cheating before, during and after the London and Sochi Games — as evidenced by the whistleblowing testimony of the former head of their anti-doping laboratory and thousands of documents. But it is much more difficult to prove — beyond a reasonable doubt — which athletes participated. In large measure that's because their suspected dirty samples were swapped out for clean urine by Russian intelligence agents.

In a press release this morning, the CAS underlined that its mandate was not to determine "whether there was an organized scheme allowing the manipulation of doping control samples... but was strictly limited to dealing with 39 individual cases and to assess the evidence applicable to each athlete on an individual basis." As such, it says it found "insufficient evidence" to uphold the lifetime bans.

Richard McLaren, the Canadian lawyer who produced two reports for the World Anti-Doping Agency, detailing the Russian abuses, sees today's decisions in a glass-half-full way.

"There was a systematic scheme to swap sample," he told the CBC News Network. "My work is upheld in those 11 cases."

Russian authorities, however, are reacting with jubilation.

"We insisted from the very start that our athletes are not involved in any doping schemes, and, of course, we are now just happy that their honest name has been reinstated by court and all their awards have been returned to them," Alexander Zhukov, the president of the Russian Olympic Committee, told the Interfax News Agency.

A team of 169 Russian athletes has been accredited for the Pyeongchang Games, set to compete as "neutrals" under an International Olympic Committee punishment for the Sochi findings that will see the country's flag and anthem banned from the competition.

But it's not yet clear if those reinstated today will be joining them. In a statement issued this morning, the IOC said "Russian athletes can participate in Pyeongchang only on invitation." And that "not being sanctioned does not automatically confer the privilege."

The IOC has also reserved the right to appeal the CAS decisions to Swiss courts, saying the findings "may have a serious impact on the future fight against doping."

The Court of Arbitration for Sport was created in 1984, the brainchild of former IOC head Juan Antonio Samaranch. Its 275 arbitrators, mostly judges, lawyers and academics, hail from all corners of the globe and hear both commercial and athlete disputes.

But it frequently overrules WADA and the IOC when it comes to eligibility and doping tests.

And there have already been charges that the International Olympic Committee is trying hard to bring an end to the Russia affair.

Those looking for fuller justice might be better off placing their hopes in divine punishment.

Perhaps at soccer's World Cup this summer, which Russian agricultural experts are now warning is in danger of being ruined by a plague of locusts.

Myanmar's mass graves

There is fresh evidence that the Myanmar's government and military has been engaged in a campaign of genocide against the country's Rohingya minority.

The Associated Press has confirmed the presence of five mass graves in the northern Rakhine State, through the testimony of dozens of refugees and disturbing video.

The time-stamped images, taken two weeks after some 200 government troops cleared out the village of Gu Dar Pyin in late August, show haphazardly buried corpses with body parts sticking out of the ground and oozing puddles of blue-green acid sludge.  

Satellite pictures obtained by the agency show that the village has been destroyed. Locals say that there were at least three pits filled with bodies near the community's entrance. Seventy-five names are on the official list of dead, but there may be as many as 400 people missing, according to survivors.

Myanmar's government has not responded to the images and testimony, but has regularly dismissed such massacre claims. However, Yanghee Lee, the UN special envoy on human rights in Myanmar, said today that the military actions against the Rohingya bear "the hallmarks of a genocide."

Meanwhile, Myanmar authorities continue their efforts to halt international scrutiny.

Today in Yangon, a court refused bail for two Reuters journalists accused of violating the country's Official Secrets Act.

Kyaw Soe Oo and Wa Lone were arrested on Dec. 12 after accepting an invitation to dine with some police. At the restaurant, two men they had never met before handed them documents and a team of arresting officers quickly moved in.

Police maintain that the "secret" papers reveal details of security operations in Rakhine's Maungdaw district, but several newspaper articles disclosing the same information were entered into evidence in court today.

In other developments, the Yangon home of Aung San Suu Kyi, the country's civilian leader came under attack today, when a man tossed a Molotov cocktail into the compound. Kyi was not at home and the damage was minor.

The democracy activist and former Nobel Peace Prize winner has come under severe international criticism for her refusal to address the plight of the Rohingya.

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Ferry nasty business

No trite deed goes unpunished. At least not in the digital age.

Andrew Constance, the New South Wales transport minister, has become public enemy no. 1 in Australia following allegations that he gamed an online poll to name a fleet of six new Sydney Harbour ferries.

Last November, it was announced that the top three entries in the $100,000 survey were Catherine Hamlin, Victor Chang and Fred Hollows -- all eminent Australian physicians. The fourth place finisher, Boaty McBoatyface — a paean to a previously hijacked online contest in Britain — was disqualified on the grounds that it was already in use by an autonomous underwater vehicle.

But Constance took some glee in confirming that the fifth-place choice, Ferry McFerryface, would indeed grace one of the new vessels.

"It's one for the kids," he said.

Within hours, however, the union representing ferry workers announced that its "insulted" members would boycott the boat on account of its "disrespectful name."

Bowing to the threats, the NSW government conducted another internet poll, and announced Tuesday that the McFerryface would be renamed the May Gibbs, in honour of the late Australian author and illustrator of children's books such as Snugglepot and Cuddlepie.

Enter Australia's Channel 9 News, with claims that Gibbs was not only ineligible under the government criteria — the new boats are supposed to be linked under the theme "Science, Environment, and Innovation" — but also that Ferry McFerryface received just 200 votes in the original poll, and Constance had pushed ahead with the name over the objections of his staff.

The real winner, says the news program, should have been environmentalist Ian Kiernan, the organizer of a national garbage cleanup.

Kiernan, a crotchety 77-year-old, hasn't hidden his feelings about the affair.

While the internet is filled with withering reviews of Constance's performance.

The Blanky McBlankface fad has come and gone on the internet. The Swedes named a new Stockholm-to-Gothenburg engine Trainy McTrainface last summer, in addition to dubbing another rig Glenn. And Horsey McHorseface is now a literal dead horse, having succumbed to bone disease in October.

The embattled Constance has received a vote of support from NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian — for the second time in a week. Usually a reliable indication that a minister is about to become Demotey McDemoteface.

Quote of the moment

"Racial discrimination and misanthropy are serious maladies inherent to the social system of the U.S., and they have been aggravated since Trump took office."

An excerpt from a new White Paper on Human Rights Violations in the U.S. in 2017 being circulated by North Korean diplomats at the UN offices in Geneva, Switzerland.

What The National is reading

• Republicans accused of 'tampering' with FBI memo (CNN)
• Poland passes controversial bill to outlaw Holocaust 'complicity' allegations (BBC)
• Fugitive Quebec historian sought by Interpol for attempted murder in B.C. (Vancouver Sun)
• Battle of Stalingrad yields more of its dead, 75 years later (CBC)
• Silence from U.S. as strongmen roll over their rivals (NY Times)
• French climber recalls horror descent from Pakistan's 'killer mountain' (Telegraph)
• The long recovery of N.S. father who saved his family from burning home (CBC)

Today in history

Feb. 1, 1979: Quebec Carnival crowd boos Governor General

Edward Schreyer was a big believer in bilingualism, but sometimes discretion is the better part of valour. His brief speech opening Quebec City's 25th annual winter bacchanal was politely received — until he switched into English. The crowd of cold, drunk young people was at least polite enough not to throw snowballs.

Governor General booed at 1979 Quebec Winter Carnival

46 years ago

Duration 1:53

Francophone crowd boos Edward Schreyer for concluding the carnival's opening speech in English.

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