Bytagand the publication "MPCC press release: the World Tour spared from doping cases in 2021"
For the first time since its creation in 2005, the World Tour recorded no cases of doping last year, at the end of an Olympic year which revealed fewer doping cases (all sports combined), but a sharp increase in convictions for corruption.
Source: CP
Since 2014, the MPCC has offered this "barometer" which only takes into account cases revealed by federations, anti-doping agencies, the courts or the press. The MPCC only considers procedures related to high-level or professional athletes. Since 2018, the MPCC has included convictions for corruption, which encompass both financial misdeeds and match-fixing.
For the past year, we will generally remember that Russia has regained first place in the ranking by nation, which had not happened for six years. It should be noted that in 2021, there were practically no revelations, following re-analyses ordered by WADA. The clean-up had been done previously with a spectacular result: the Russians saw 29% of their medals removed from all five previous Summer Games (Sydney, Athens, Beijing, London and Rio).
For 2021, this increase in positive cases illustrates the need for Russian sports leaders to purge a corrupt system, in order to regain the favor of major sports authorities. Their attitude follows the sanctions imposed on the suspended Russian Olympic Committee during the Pyeongchang (2018), Tokyo (2021) and Beijing (2022) Games. Similarly, the suspension of the Russian Athletics Federation (RusAF) was extended for a 7th consecutive year in 2022 by World Athletics. Only Russian athletes who demonstrated their absence of doping were allowed to compete, under a neutral banner.
Once again, 2021 was heavily impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. Many sporting events were cancelled, although the Tokyo Olympics (one year late), the Euro football championships and the Tour de France did take place. For its part, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) says it was able to successfully complete its anti-doping programme, which was not the case in 2020.
In this context, we note with surprise, for the fourth year in a row, a significant drop in the number of cases revealed publicly. This constant decline over the last four years has led to half as many revelations of doping and corruption cases in 2021 as in 2018!
The most significant declines concern above all athletics (half as many cases as last year) and baseball (with 96 cases, it was the most affected sport in 2017. Only 5 cases this year).
In the range of all its disciplines, cycling (ranked 7th) remains on fairly constant values over time (apart from a jump observed in 2019). But the absence of doping revelations in the World Tour last year is a first since its creation in 2005; in reality, since this sport decided to really tackle the scourge, following the Festina affair (1998).
On the ground, some players and leaders are not happy about it. Testimonies from iconic riders are once again denouncing two-speed cycling and the UCI Director, in a recent interview (1), confided that the testAnti-doping measures are no longer sufficient to detect cheats. According to Amina Lamiya, more radical methods of investigation should be considered. An approach that the MPCC fully supports, which prompts it to put the flattering reality of the figures in this table into perspective.
Cycling seems fortunately to be spared from the problems of corruption and rigged results. This is not the case for other sports such as tennis, cricket, or even football, where convictions are increasing. In 2022, we will also have to monitor the emergence of sex scandals, which are increasingly numerous and which seriously undermine the credibility and integrity of certain sports.
(1) West-France, January 10, 2022
Bytagand the publication "MPCC press release: the World Tour spared from doping cases in 2021"
