Russia's Doping Scandal: Impact on Sports and Nations - Essay Sample

Introduction

In the Olympics, sports and the rule of authority, citizens and the nations at large reflect the political, economic and social pride of their countries. Therefore, it is not different against Russia, since analysts suspected the doping scandals in the country the integrity of the sport was in question and how such activities are allowed with very significant social and economic aspect. The suspicion was I hold since the confirmation of the accusation in the year 2014 and the reports concerning cases of doping in Russia were in the broadcasting systems. Media is an essential element in influencing the values, attitudes and social norms of a country and therefore, the anti-doping agency was to investigate the accusation. Thus, the agency was mandated with the duty to ensure that further research was done and the individual who had used the steroids were taken over the required guidelines. The paper aims to discuss an analysis in-depth concerning the doping cases in Russia and to provide further recommendations to the anti-doping agency on ways to control the scandals globally.

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Research Problem

Before the Rio Olympics in 2016, the world was shocked by the news that the government of Russia had been involved in a massive doping scandal. From the investigation conducted independently by Richard Mclaren, a Canadian lawyer, it is clear that the Russia government has been funding doping for its athletes from the start of 2010 (Altukhov & Nauright, 2018). Therefore, Russia was to fall victim over ban from participating in the 2020 Olympics, which were scheduled in Tokyo Japan. The decision was made at the meeting, which was held in Switzerland by the agency against doping activities (Duval,2017). Also, Russia was to be banned from the winter season in 2022, which was to be held in Beijing as well as the world cup, which was planned in Qatar. From the report, it is clear that the scandal was not the first.

Research Question

The leading questions in the research will be:

Have the current anti-doping policies in Russian been effective?

Carrying out an in-depth and overall analysis of the framework of doping will help in determining the effectiveness of the set policies and how these policies will be used to meet the goals and objectives of anti-doping. The listed questions will guide the research question:

• What are the scientific and historical backgrounds that are currently being used to shape the current anti-doping policies?
• What are the unintended and intended consequences of using these policies?
• What complexities and dilemmas are associated with the anti-doping field?
• What anti-doping aspects are likely to have and the highest impact and what polices are likely to have the highest impact?

The questions will be discussed, explored and addressed in numerous ways, and this will ultimately lead to the generation of answers to the critical research question.

Practical Importance

To discuss the functional importance of the current anti-doping policies in Russia, it will be essential to look at the effectiveness of the existing framework on anti-doping. WADA has been given the responsibility of developing the World Anti-Doping Code, and the code consists of twenty-five articles (Carstairs,2003). These articles provide an outline on the general laws pertaining to the stakeholder's roles, interpretation and modification of WADC, research roles, education and doping control.

The practical importance of the report will be on trying to analyze if Russia complies with the general rules of WADA. Additionally, the research will also explain the consequences of failing to abide by the WADA guidelines (Duval,2017). The thesis will also be of practical importance since it will examine the differing anti-doping aspects to determine the effectiveness and success of the existing policies of anti-doping in Russian.

Besides, the paper will discuss why the government of Russia provides the steroids to the athletes even when it understands it is the violation of the law. Doping in Russia is different from so many countries in the world since in most nations the athletes will hook up on their own and try to find the steroids on their own, however, in Russia the government provides the steroids from the investigations which have been made (Duval,2017). Even though doping in Russia has caused more than 47 medals being taken from the nation, athletes continue with violating the law. This has made Russia emerge as the leading countries in the instances of doping events. Therefore, research is vital to analyze why the Russian government continues with doping scandals. The following is the methodology used to get satisfactory results in answering the question on the increase in levels of doping scandals in Russia.

Methodology

From the above description, it is clear that the research is based on carrying out a description of the current situations surrounding doping in Russia. Data has been brought together from the last two decades to evaluate government-sponsored self-sponsored doping cases. The methodology in the research will involve the utilization of case studies to examine the aspect and effectiveness of anti-doping policies.

From the analysis, it is evident that the provided case studies have several aspects in common. This made it necessary to bring the involved case studies together. The selection of the methodology was based on the fact that it has created borders between the current policies and the policies under development. The chosen methodology will also be effective in the development of anti-doping policies. The methodology also presents the aspect of effectiveness based on the fact that the set-out efforts are associated with different types of costs. The research put into consideration one thousand one hundred and forty-three respondents, from the case, the mean age stood at 20.34 years.

The survey implementation was limited to individuals who engaged in the Summer Olympics 2016. The requests for the survey were conducted online and focused on departments that were sports affiliated. The university granted the procedure to carry out the study. The questionnaires were filled out by the target participants, and consent was obtained verbally and in writing.

Research Design

The research design utilized in the case was a cross-sectional approach. The study only considered individuals who had participated in the 2016 summer Olympics. The research excluded individuals who had previously participated in competitive games. The research utilized stratified random sampling; the independent variables utilized in the case included the utilization of demographic characteristics such as occupation (Kidd et al.,2001). Level of education, marital status and sex. The dependent variables utilized in the case included doping practices, doping beliefs and doping knowledge. The questionnaire utilized was interviewer based. The instrument was used for data collection purposes.

Sampling

The sampling was able to confirm the use of demographic data. The participants in the study were above eighteen years of age who were involved in the Summer Olympics. The research was able to analyze the Performance Enhancement Scale. The sampling process was able to summarize the continuous variables in the case (Kidd et al.,2001). The variables examined in the case included the application of the standard deviation and the use of the mean. The participants in the case were granted anonymity, and they also received informed consent to participate in the sampling activity. The individual selected were given a questionnaire, and with confidentiality over their answers being assured, they wrote they provided their view on the doping scandals. Each individual who participated in the last two Olympics were the target group.

Data Collection

The research applied use of open-ended questionnaires and interview approaches to extract information. The questionnaires were provided to the individuals who had participated in the athletics for the past two decades I order to identify whether they were acquitted with the use of steroids. Also, personal interviews were employed to the individuals who were not conversant in writing, but they could communicate effectively. The two data collection methods were effective since first-hand information was obtained because the athletes provided themselves without any manipulation procedure.

However, the techniques are limited since the individual could provide vague and false data due to the fear of being intimidated or looked down upon. The following are some of the questions that were included in the questionnaires and were asked during the personal interviews.

• The numbers of years the athletes had participated in the Olympics
• Personal stand on whether it is good or not to use steroids for preparations during the Olympics and sporting activities

Results

From the response which was provided by the individuals who took their time to answer the questionnaires, it was evident that the Russian government was guilty of providing the steroids to their athletes. However, the government through the ministry of sports and together with the persons responsible for planning the sports activities provided directly and thus as a result violating the laid down guidelines by the global ministry of sports concerning the doping activities.

Therefore, the commission for anti-doping requested for a laboratory test for the individuals who attended the last two Olympics was to be tested, and their result samples are presented to the agency for verification (Kidd et al.,2001). The laboratory was scheduled to be in Moscow, from the results sample, about 643 individuals tested to have used the steroids in the past Olympics. However, analysts said that the numbers were just minimal to the actual individual who was involved in the doping activities. The Russian government was to in a position to disclose all the sporting records, and thus the tests were so much limited to small samples and hence so many athletes were suspected of having been in the doping scandal as well.

Conclusion

Russia is one of the nations that have been winning most of the categories in the past Olympics and sports activities. However, it is clear from the above research that most athletes only depend on the steroids to perform effectively. The shocking thing is that it is the government that provides the steroids for her athletes. Therefore, it is vital to introduce much tight policies and guidelines over the nations that use the steroids such as increasing penalties to a permanent ban from participating from the Olympics and other sports such as the world war.

References

Altukhov, S., & Nauright, J. (2018). The new sporting Cold War: implications of the Russian doping allegations for international relations and sport. Sport in Society, 21(8), 1120-1136.

Carstairs, C. (2003). The wide world of doping: drug scandals, natural bodies, and the business of sports entertainment. Addiction research & theory, 11(4), 263-281.

Duval, A. (2017). The Russian doping scandal at the court of arbitration for sport: lessons for the world anti-doping system. The International Sports Law Journal, 16(3-4), 177-197.

Kidd, B., Edelman, R., & Brownell, S. (2001). Comparative analysis of doping scandals: Canada, Russia and China. Doping in elite sport: The politics of drugs in the Olympic movement, 153-188.