Rio Games More Than Just Olympics – Also Features Crime and Doping Scandals

Even if you’re not a fan of the Olympics, you’ve probably heard of all the controversy surrounding the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. The concern initially was whether the games should be held in Rio given the Zika virus. The focus then shifted to whether Rio was an appropriate venue given the crime rate and the political unrest. Now that the Olympics are underway, athletes and spectators alike are wondering whether many Russian athletes, who have been caught using illegal performance enhancing drugs in the past, should be allowed to compete in the Olympics at all. Many Russian Olympians have already been banned and those that are competing are getting booed by spectators.

What legal remedies do people traveling abroad have if they’re the victim of crime in Rio, and do the banned athletes have any legal recourse against the Olympic committee?

Crime in Rio

The Olympic Games are well underway and already there have been a number of crimes. Brazil has deployed 85,000 police and soldiers to combat crime and the threat of terrorism specifically for the Olympics. Rio’s Mayor Eduardo Paes promised that Rio would be the safest place to visit in the world given the extra security measures taken. Despite his promises, street crime since the beginning of the Olympics is well-documented.

The Chief of Security for the Opening Ceremony was mugged at knife point as he left the Olympic Stadium after the ceremony. A Portuguese education minister was assaulted while taking a walk in an upscale neighborhood in Rio. One Greek official was robbed of $11,000 in electronic equipment. One New Zealand jiu-jitsu athlete even claimed he was kidnapped in Rio, and there have been a host of other crimes in Rio during the Olympics.

What is causing the crime? Mainly the financial crisis that the state government declared in June, which led to police and firefighters protesting lack of pay just weeks ahead of the games. The crisis combined with the worst political crisis Brazil has seen in decades has led to this “perfect storm” of crime coupled with little financial resources to combat against it. This is all happening when Rio is being judged by the rest of the world as the hosts of the Olympic Games. Bad timing.

While there is no doubt a wave of crime is hitting Rio and all of its visitors, there is nothing that these victims of crime can do legally against Rio or the Olympic committee. Why not? Just as people elect to vacation in various places in the world and may be the victim of crime in those countries, Olympians and spectators elect to visit Rio for the purpose of attending the Olympic Games. They knew of the potential for crime in the area and essentially assumed the risk. Even Olympians choose to go to the games, and some even decide not to because of the danger in Rio, most notably basketball superstars Stephen Curry and Lebron James.

This means that any person, Olympian or civilian, who traveled to Rio for the Olympic Games will have to be extra vigilant to ensure they are not robbed, assaulted, or worse.

Doping Scandal

A doping scandal has left the Russian Olympic team sparse. Many Russian athletes are not being allowed to participate in the Rio Games. Russian track and field athletes filed a class action and individual lawsuits with the arbitration court to challenge the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) decision banning them from the 2016 Rio Olympics. The arbitration court ruled against the athletes and banned them nevertheless.

Now, the Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC) is in talks with the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) on speeding up court procedures regarding the blanket ban of Russian Paralympians from their participation in the 2016 Rio Paralympics. Paralympic Games is the major international multi-sport event for people with physical disabilities. It is the Olympics for the disabled. Like their Olympic counterparts, Russian Paralympic athletes are suspected of doping. Given the way things went for the Russian athletes who contested their Rio Olympic ban, the Paralympic athletes will probably be banned as well.

Both the Olympics and Paralympics have very strict rules regarding performance enhancement drugs, which they consider cheating given the unfair advantage they give to athletes. Anyone who takes them suffers the consequences. In this case, that’s a ban against competing.