The 2012 and 2014 Olympic Doping Scandals: A Critical Analysis of the Effectiveness of Anti-Doping Mechanisms in Sports Law and the Necessity of Global Unity and Rehabilitation in Enforcing Anti-Doping Measures

Abstract

This paper critically assesses the effectiveness of Olympic anti-doping measures, will consider the way in which the difficulties inherent in the detection of doping may cause infringements on rule of law principles, and discusses approaches to further encourage a mutually beneficial global culture of cooperation and compliance between nations, which must serve as the fundamental basis for the modern development of anti-doping practices. This paper further highlights how the positive steps Russian bodies have taken in response to this scandal and the tangible improvements made to their regulation of doping behaviors are a positive indicator of sports law’s capacity to enact change. Moreover, this paper will argue that an approach to anti-doping that seeks to rehabilitate and encourage positive behaviors is ultimately necessary to ensure international sport’s role in peacefully facilitating international cooperation, as approaches that vilify and permanently ostracize states that have been found in violation of anti-doping laws are ultimately ineffective at facilitating compliance.