WASHINGTON—The Commission on Security and Cooperation in Europe, also known as the Helsinki Commission, today announced the following hearing:
THE STATE OF PLAY:
GLOBALIZED CORRUPTION, STATE-RUN DOPING, AND INTERNATIONAL SPORT
Wednesday, July 25, 2018
2:00 p.m.
Dirksen Senate Office Building
Room 562
Live Webcast: http://www.senate.gov/isvp/?type=live&comm=csce&filename=csce072518
Doping in international sport defrauds clean athletes and sponsors, and is inextricably linked with globalized corruption. However, international sports bodies like FIFA and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) appear unable or unwilling to curtail it. While the United States acts against many other forms of transnational crime, doping remains largely unpunished.
Courageous whistleblowers have brought to light the unprecedented extent to which Russia has sought to defraud the international community through doping. Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov, the former head of the Moscow anti-doping lab, and Yuliya Stepanova, a world-class Russian athlete, revealed a complex web of deception that enabled Russia to cheat at international sporting events going back decades.
To root out doping and corruption in international sport, Helsinki Commissioners Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee (TX-18) and Rep. Michael Burgess, M.D., (TX-26) recently introduced the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act (RADA). The bipartisan legislation establishes civil remedies and criminal penalties for doping fraud violations at major international competitions. Helsinki Commissioners Rep. Gwen Moore (WI-04) and Rep. Steve Cohen (TN-09) cosponsored the bill.
Witnesses at this hearing will discuss this legislation and explore the impact of doping fraud and its relationship to globalized corruption.
The following witnesses are scheduled to participate:
- Dagmar Freitag, Chairwoman, Sports Committee of the German Bundestag
- Yuliya Stepanova, World-class Russian athlete and anti-doping whistleblower
- Travis Tygart, CEO, U.S. Anti-Doping Agency
- Katie Uhlaender, U.S. Olympian
- Jim Walden, Partner, Walden Macht & Haran LLP; attorney for Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov
In February 2018, the Helsinki Commission held a briefing on combating fraud in sports and the role of whistleblowers in safeguarding the integrity of international competitions. In March, Commissioners Sen. Ben Cardin (MD), Sen. Cory Gardner (CO), and Rep. Jackson Lee met with Dr. Rodchenkov to discuss the threat posed by Russia to the United States, corruption in international sports bodies, and U.S. contributions to the international effort to counter doping fraud.
