Sport is made for betting

There's not much left to say on the farce that was the World Cup bidding process. We know they are as bent as a three pound note, so why pander to them and waste millions in doing so? I don't have a problem with Russia winning the 2018 bid. The country has made rapid progress in hosting big events in recent years, there's plenty of money in local football so facilities are improving all the time and presentation was well organised. I'm quite excited by the prospect of going there. It's the Qatar one which defies all logic. Good luck to them if they can pull it off, but little regard seems to have been paid to fans when they are not inside the air-conditioned stadiums. Getting into a major event stadium can often take over an hour, and in 50C, that's potentially lethal. Are they going to build 200 hotels to accommodate and provide liquid refreshment for foreign fans? Will there be a market for hotel boats moored 2km offshore where all the alcohol is served? And...

It's damn cold outside, so the best thing about that weather is that biathlon season must be starting soon! If you haven't read my blog in previous European winters, you'll have missed how excited I get about betting on this sport, particularly trading in-running on Betfair. It is a brilliant sport once you understand how the format works. Anyway, Russia had five competitors caught for doping last season, including three top 10 biathletes, and the International Biathlon Union (which can't be too harsh against them as Russia is the biggest nation in the sport) has handed out a rather lame $68,000 fine to the national body. Hardly a massive penalty given how endemic in the system it had become, and their past history... Biathlon union fines Russia $68,000 for doping BERLIN (AP)—The International Biathlon Union has fined Russia $68,000 for a series of doping violations. The IBU sanctioned the Russian national federation Monday after five of its athletes were caught...

Unfortunately it always seems that the positive tests don't seem to come out until AFTER their careers are finished. In the 80s it was still a Cold War thing and positive tests were swept under the carpet. It has only been the last 20 years that American athletes, the really good American athletes not just lower-ranked scapegoats, have started being busted for steroid abuse (or other banned substances). Yet the hysteria and suspicion still lies with the 'unknown' or the evil enemy, namely Russia or China. Former US Champion Clay banned for doping violations (Reuters) - Former U.S. 200 meters champion Ramon Clay has been suspended for two years for using steroids and other banned substances from 2000-04, the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) said Friday. So in recent years from the US, we've had Marion Jones, Justin Gatlin, Antonio Pettigrew, C.J. Hunter, Tim Montgomery, Kelli White, Jerome Young.... For a full list of doping cases in athletics, visit Wikipedia ...

Shame it wasn't one of their leading female competitors, at least I can post a gratuitous photo then. Russian cross country skier Nicholas Pankratov has been busted by Swiss customs officials for possessing intravenous equipment and 22 capsules of the drug actovegin, derived from calf blood. Actovegin is not on the WADA banned list, but has been in doping authorities' spotlight for several years. The original article can be found here in Norwegian, use Google Chrome to translate it. Sergei Korolev, who is head of Russia's winter sports federations, told RIA Novosti that Pankratov's possession of actovegin with the equipment for blood transfusion is a cause for sanctions unless he can prove that he has a legitimate reason to use it. News agency reports that Pankratovs case will be handled by the International Ski Federation (FIS') anti-doping panel. - He may be excluded for two years. If he can prove that there were health reasons to use the drug, he may g...

They're at it again. After three leading Russian biathletes were busted for it back in February, now it''s the turn of the cross-country skiers to cheat the system and get caught. Three Russian skiers test positive for EPO Two of the three athletes were Olympic gold medallists as well, and conveniently, they will both now retire - probably to a hero's farewell. Winter sports need to take a hardline stance like weightlifting - multiple failed drug tests leads to that country being barred from major competitions. Until that happens, this ugly cycle will continue. And any athlete who tests positive to the more serious drugs, such as steroids and EPO, should all their previous achievements wiped from the record books.

Breaking story again in biathlon. The Russians are still in the news despite the season having just finished. Two more Russian biathletes are alleged to have failed drug tests, for the same substance which caught three of them back in February . This time it is believed to be one man and one woman, from testing at the Russian National Championships. According to Norwegian press sources, the positive tests have been confirmed by French testing officials. If this is true, will the Russians actually have anyone left to compete in Vancouver for the Winter Olympics? The sad fact is that biathlon needs Russia so even if the IBU had the power to kick them out completely, it's highly unlikely they would. But every Russian biathlete from here on is massively tainted by the actions of their peers and team entourage. The amazing part of this story is that the cheats were caught at a local event, and apparently, by a Russian agency. Perhaps they are getting serious after all. UPDATE - Named a...

New story in the Norwegian press this morning - the Russian President Dmitri Medvedev has sent a text message to Swedish biathlete Mattias Nilsson Jr (who commented on his blog about his disgust for the Russian drug cheats) promising that Russia would make a stance against doping in biathlon. As a follow-up to that, the heads of the Russian biathlon team have asked IBU president Besseberg for help in cleaning it up. Now I can believe a president making an effort to get things changed, it's highly unlikely he had any involvement in encouraging the cheating. But for the heads of an organisation with systematic drug-taking to call for assistance in cleaning up THEIR MESS, that's utter crap. The first (and only) step they can make to cleaning it up is resign in disgrace. These are the same people who screamed their athletes were innocent just a week ago and sent them to Pyeong Chang knowing full well the B-samples would be positive as well. And then wanted to take a petty protest a...

So to all the Russian readers who sent me abuse for releasing the story before it was confirmed.... take your blinkers off and wake up to the real world. Russian newscentre VES believes that the testing in Lausanne has returned three positive B samples for a variety of EPO, initially believed to be CERA. The hall of shame: Albina Akhatova Ekaterina Iourieva Dmitry Yaroshenko The announcement from the International Biathlon Union is believed to be imminent. May they never grace a biathlon competition again. There is no place in professional sports for drug cheats. "We are facing systematic doping at the large scale in one of the strongest teams of the world," IBU President Anders Besseberg told reporters in the eastern resort town of Pyeongchang. "Either we have been able to catch them all, or we have only seen the top of the ice mountain," he said. "There is no, absolutely no, excuse for what the three doped Russian athletes and the people behind them have done...

Delusional, endemic or just plain corrupt? The Russian Federation's answer to the three positive tests in biathlon is "These drugs aren't on your banned list, so we can't be suspended". CERA is a new form of EPO, the biggest illegal drug in endurance sport which now has 10 varieties. This particular variety is not on the banned list yet, so the Russians have sent all their team to Korea for next week's World Championships, claiming they can't be banned. "Our scientists are better than your scientists!". This isn't a cough medicine or asthma medication, this is a drug developed purely to cheat. How many Russian athletes are going to end up dead before they turn 40 because their body has been systematically infested by man-made drugs? Virtually every women's world record in athletics has the massive tarnish of drugs cheat on it, certainly every record set more than 10 years ago, of which there are plenty. Why are none of these records remot...