Years of bribery, cover-ups and money-laundering have been uncovered by a Canadian law professor, but who would fund an investigative team to scrutinise sports federations?
Moments before powerlifters attempt a superhuman feat of strength, they like to hold a capsule of ammonia to their nose, snort deeply, and feel a huge jolt of adrenaline rip through their bodies. But it is going to take far more than smelling salts to revive weightlifting’s reputation after the publication of a truly eye-bulging independent investigation by the Canadian law professor Richard McLaren. Corruption. Cronyism. Cover-ups. Bribes. An omerta that would impress the five families. It’s all there in a 122-page report that leaves the reader feeling they have bathed in a fetid swamp.
Think Fifa and double it. The IAAF and quadruple it. McLaren’s investigation found that more than $10m (around £7.9m) was unaccounted for in the books of the International Weightlifting Federation, that 40 doping positives were covered up and vote-buying to ensure the re-election of the former president Dr Tamas Ajan was rampant. And that was just for starters.
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