"This is a matter of honor and dignity": why did a group of Russian athletes sue McLaren

Court with McLaren: a second lawsuit

Information that a group of Russian athletes led by ex-president of the Rowing Federation (FGSR) Benjamin Bout filed a lawsuit against Richard McLaren, appeared back in July 2018. Then a number of documents were sent to the Supreme Court of the Canadian province of Ontario, where a lawyer lives and works.

The Russian side announced a desire to recover about 6 million Canadian dollars from a Canadian (about 300 million rubles. - RT).

The athletes who filed the suit, as well as Bout, stated that they consider themselves unjustly affected by the actions of the author of the first report on the abuses of doping in Russian Olympic sports. The athletes who appeared in the document only on this basis lost the opportunity to compete at the 2016 Olympics.

Shortly before the main sporting event of the four-year period, the International Rowing Federation (FISA), based on the McLaren report, did not allow almost the entire Russian national rowing team to the Games. The athletes responded to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), but all of their 17 lawsuits were rejected.

A little later, Ivan Podshivalov and Anastasia Karabelshchikova received a positive response, since the CAS declared the IOC criterion illegal, according to which athletes with a “doping past” were not allowed to attend the Olympic Games. Despite this, FISA still refused Karabelshchikova the right to participate in the Games, and Podshivalov was decided not to take Brazil to the FGSR.

Two years after the events described, the lawsuit was filed in the name of McLaren, and only six months later a Canadian lawyer received a notice of this.

Moreover, this lawsuit is not the first one that Russian athletes have filed against the author of the sensational report. In September 2017, three Russian cyclists appealed to a Canadian court - Dmitry Sokolov, Kirill Sveshnikov and Dmitry Strakhov, who were also forced to miss the Olympic Games, since their names appeared in a lawyer's report.

Cyclists demanded from McLaren and WADA to pay them damages in the amount of $ 7 million, 6 of which are financial losses of athletes, and another - punitive damages for the “malicious intent of the actions of McLaren and WADA” In May last year, the case was accepted for consideration.

"When Maclaren was handed the notice, it seemed that he was even shaking"

Since then, none of the Russian athletes decided to sue McLaren, and the second after cyclists the rowers applied to the court. In order to understand the essence of the matter, RT contacted Booth himself.

- You filed a lawsuit on July 23, but it was still necessary to convey information to McLaren. Why did it take as long as six months?

- The fact is that the notification had to be handed personally to McLaren so that he could not say that he did not know what was happening. We actively engaged in this process closer to the fall. We had to connect a special company. There, about 11 times trying to catch McLaren, but unsuccessfully. Looking for him in the office and at the institute where he works. I do not think that McLaren deliberately avoided these visits, after all, this is a man of the wrong scale.

- Did he somehow respond to your claim?

- The process of sending the notice to him was recorded on video. The video clearly shows that this information made an impression on McLaren. To put it mildly, he was stunned. Although it may, he has a permanent state. At least when I watched the video for the first time, it seemed that he was even shaking.

- You intend to sue McLaren about 6 million Canadian dollars, or 300 million Russian rubles. Where did this amount come from?

- Everything is very simple. That is how much extrabudgetary funds were spent on preparing for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. This amount is confirmed by the relevant documents.

- Who helps you in the case?

- First, we almost agreed to cooperate with a special Canadian company. Secondly, we will continue to be helped by lawyers, thanks to whom, on the eve of the 2016 Games, we won the Carabelschikova-Podshivalov case in CAS.

- How did you respond to your claim in Russia?

- It is clear that financial support cannot be discussed, but in words many, of course, supported. Although opinions were different. Someone said that the court should not apply, because there is no chance of winning. Some, on the contrary, called our idea correct. I think that with the most pessimistic forecasts, the odds are 50 to 50, and our 50 looks preferable to McLaren 50, because we are fighting for the right thing. It all depends on the mood.

- How tentatively can the process be delayed, given that only fine-tuning information to McLaren about filing a lawsuit took six months?

- Lawyers said that up to two years, but practice shows that most often the parties earlier come to some kind of agreement, agree. This happens when one of the parties understands the impasse of its position. At the moment, McLaren handed notice of the filing of a claim. Now he has to formulate his opinion within 30 days. After the data will be checked by lawyers. At some of the boundaries we can come to an agreement.

- Ready to forgive Maclaren part of the amount?

- Understand that this is not about money, but about honor and dignity. The man poured mud at us based on undocumented data. At least apologize for this, say: "Yes, I'm wrong."

- That is, in the case of an apology from McLaren ready to withdraw financial claims?

- I will get great satisfaction if such a respected person admits his mistakes.

"Athletes will turn gray until it comes to hearings."

The Russian side is determined, but the well-known sports lawyer Artyom Patsev warns that a group of domestic athletes headed by Bout is waiting for a very protracted process.

“I did not see the claim, so I can’t say something definite. It is difficult to diagnose from a photo. Booth says he has documents? In court, everyone says so, and then it turns out that there is no evidence, or there is evidence, and there is no legal basis for recovery of damages, ”the lawyer said in an interview with RT.

According to him, a large number of lawsuits against McLaren should not be expected, since the lawsuit in Canada requires serious financial resources.

“Until now, only one such lawsuit was filed against WADA and McLaren - from three cyclists, which is still pending. The wave will not go, because litigation in Canada, as in other countries of the Anglo-Saxon legal system, is very expensive and protracted. Athletes will turn gray until it comes to hearings, not to mention the debriefing. And the initial investment in the trial is about 300 thousand dollars. Nobody has that much money. Therefore, WADA, sitting in Canada, felt quite calm. The agency constantly urged Russian athletes to go to court, but they were well aware that Russian athletes simply did not have such an opportunity, ”added Patsev.

The lawyer also said that after the claim was filed by the cyclists, WADA specially protected itself from prosecutions.

“The agency for six months initiated the adoption in the province of Quebec, where WADA and sits, the law on judicial immunity in relation to himself beloved. That is, in this province you cannot go to court. They are very afraid of lawsuits. But McLaren has no relation to WADA and sits in another Canadian province - Ontario, so that in any case he is not subject to judicial immunity, ”said Patsev.