Sport security

Russia banned from Olympics again over doping cover-up

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has once again banned Russia from participating in the Olympics, as well as all major international sporting events, over its failure to end the cover-up of doping by its athletes.

The World Anti-Doping Agency has once again banned Russia from participating in the Olympics, as well as all major international sporting events, over its failure to end the cover up of doping by its athletes.

WADA’s executive committee voted unanimously on Monday to accept a recommendation to ban Russia from fielding athletes under its flag and team names at any major international competitions for the next four years, including the Olympics and Paralympics.

In late November, WADA’s compliance board made that recommendation after finding that Russia was still not cooperating with anti-doping authorities and had sought to conceal possible doping violations as recently as last winter.

Sport security

FINALLY: Russian doping case FAILS in court. Time to revisit Russia-gate?

It happened…Pandora’s Box was torn open, and out came Russia-gate, the Syrian Crisis, The Ukraine Crisis, and so much more, including the Russian Olympic doping scandal. By an odd turn of fate, however, it may be the resolution of the doping scandal, which brings hope for the other greater issues. Evidence for the Russian Olympic doping scandal, including the key testimony of Grigory Rodchenkov, was finally tried with fire – and found severely lacking. According to RT:

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has published two reasoned awards in the matter of 39 Russian athletes accused of doping, describing Grigory Rodchenkov’s evidence as “hearsay with limited probative value.”

Grigory Rodchenkov was, of course, the erstwhile head of Russia’s anti-doping lab, before resigning under shame, and fleeing to the US, where he made his accusations of “state-sponsored doping” against the Russian Olympic committee.

Sport security

Securing Sporting Events – Challenge Has Never Been Greater

Predictive technology will play a vital role in securing future major sport events. During a keynote speech on smart cities and the future of sport safety and security, Michael Hershman, Group CEO of the International Centre for Sport Security (ICSS), encouraged more host cities and nations to integrate smart data systems within their safety and security planning.

Speaking during the INTERPOL World 2017 conference, he acknowledged the growing and significant security challenges facing many major sport event hosts and gave several insights into emerging trends and technologies currently being developed that could help predict potential threats.

According to aroundtherings.com, he said: “The challenge of securing high-profile international sporting events has never been greater and the security threats now facing host cities and nations around the world are now hugely complex, sophisticated and organized.

Sport security

Bomb Scare Triggers Stampede of Italian Soccer Fans, 1,400 Injured

A false bomb scare triggered a stampede among soccer fans watching the Champions League final in Turin’s San Carlo Square on Saturday night, leaving about 1,400 fans injured. Authorities said at least seven people were in critical condition Sunday, including a 7-year-old boy. Chaos erupted just 10 minutes before the end of the game, when the sound of fireworks was mistaken for a bomb exploding and fans frantically raced out of the area, sending others flying into barriers or getting trampled by the panicked crowd.

Sport security

Borussia Dortmund postpone their Champions League quarter-final clash with Monaco for 22 hours after team coach is hit by three explosions on way to first-leg clash at Signal Iduna Park

The Champions League quarter-final between Borussia Dortmund and Monaco was postponed last night following three explosions near the Dortmund team bus.

Defender Marc Bartra needed surgery after suffering a broken bone in his wrist and catching fragments of glass in his arm when a window on the bus shattered as the German team were leaving their local hotel ahead of the first-leg tie.

The police were not ruling out a terrorist incident and a statement said: ‘This was an attack with serious explosives. The bombs may have been hidden in a hedge.’ A letter was found near the scene ‘taking responsibility’ for the attack. 

Sport security

Putin: Russian anti-doping system failed, we should listen to WADA

The Russian anti-doping system failed to fulfill its function, and Russia should listen to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), as doping cases are unacceptable, Russian President Vladimir Putin has said.

“The main thing is that despite the shortcomings in the work of [Mclaren’s] independent commission, we should pay attention to what it did, to the results of its work. We must listen to WADA’s demands. Because we have to admit that we have proven cases of doping use,” Putin said at a meeting in the Russian city of Krasnoyarsk. The 2019 World Student Games are set to take place in the Siberian city.

Sport security

Inside the Desperate Battle against Sports Doping

Nine months before the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, a small victory in the epic fight against the dark side of sports seemed to be at hand. A victory over the army of cheats who seek an unfair advantage by injecting blood booster EPO and testosterone or by taking anabolic steroids.
"Hilton Hotel Security found another syringe in the room of two athletes." That's how Victor Burgos, an investigator for the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), began an email he sent on Nov. 22, 2015, at 5:24 p.m. A former policeman from New York, Burgos wrote: "I passed the information, athlete names and room number to Brad and he is picking up the evidence and handling test planning."

Sport security

IoT Technologies Won the Olympic Games

The 2016 Olympics recently concluded were the most digitally connected Olympics ever. Numerous  of Internet of Things (IoT) technologies were applied during the games to ensure an interconnected world.

According to Machinedesign.com, the Olympics introduced new IoT security features. The Brazilian manufacturer Altave introduced security balloons with high-resolution cameras to support the security system at the games. The devices send images produced by a total of 13 cameras in real time to the Center for Integrated Regional Command and Control. This security feature proved successful, and plans are in place for them to be adopted at the 2020 Olympics in Toyko.

An NBC Sports app live streamed every single athletic event, providing actual live transmissions and not only replays or highlights. In addition, the Rio Games employed new cameras, sensors, and display technology to provide instant scores and coverage. The app and other technological innovations combined to provide an enriched view of the Olympics.

Sport security

More Than 1,000 U.S. Spies Protecting Rio Olympics

U.S. intelligence has assigned more than 1,000 spies to Olympic security as part of a highly classified effort to protect the Rio 2016 Summer Games and American athletes and staff, NBC News has learned.

Hundreds of analysts, law enforcement and special operations personnel are already on the ground in Rio de Janeiro, according to an exclusive NBC News review of a highly classified report on U.S. intelligence efforts.

In addition, more than a dozen highly trained Navy and Marine Corps commandos from the U.S. Special Operations Command are in Brazil, working with the Brazilian Federal Police and the Brazilian Navy, according to senior military officials.

Sport security

FBI TARGETS OLYMPIC BIO BOMBERS US security services working to prevent horror chemical attacks at Rio games

AMERICAN terror experts are training Olympic security personnel to guard against bio bomb attacks on ‘soft targets’ like shopping malls and bars across Rio.

Brazil’s government is working hand-in-hand with American law enforcement and intelligence services to identify threats and scupper potential terror atrocities at the Games.

FBI specialists have spent months training Brazilian anti-terrorism units on the dangers of chemical and biological attacks, it’s been reported in the States.

They’ve been helping to identify soft targets like restaurants, nightclubs and shopping malls that are away from the well-guarded Olympic sites.

And they have been working  to train Brazilian law enforcement and military personnel at large American sporting events – including the Super Bowl in February, reports theNew York Times.

Sport security

Brazil beefs up Olympic security after Nice terror attack

Brazil is revising its security for next month’s Summer Olympic Games in the wake of the attack in Nice, France, that killed 84 people, officials said as they carried out the latest in a series of counterterrorism exercises.

This country, where there have been no major terrorist attacks in recent years, will host up to half a million tourists for South America’s first Olympic Games, which start in Rio de Janeiro on Aug. 5.

Extra measures will be imposed including intensified searches, increased security on streets, restrictions on traffic on some routes and an increased safety cordon around some venues, ministers said without providing details.

The city had already planned to deploy 85,000 police, military and members of a Brazil-style national guard called the National Force on Rio’s streets. But the scale of the carnage caused by the truck used in the Nice attack prompted Brazil to reevaluate its security measures.

Sport security

Hacking Risk At Rio Olympics, Warn US Officials

Before they’ve even started, the Rio Olympics are already plagued with numerous issues jeopardising the security of visitors, players, and residents alike. From the Zika virus, through political instability, and known terror threats against the Games, to the newest warning issued to travellers: hacking. US intelligence officials are waning American travellers planning to attend the Games and other foreign destination that they could become the targets of hackers and cyber criminals planning to steal confidential information, whether personal or business related.

America’s top counter-intelligence official, Bill Evanina, is advising to use “clean” devices while abroad, USA Today reports. The Games, apart from drawing the world’s top athletes, will also present a “great playground” for intelligence services and criminals, Evanina says, due to the “sheer number of devices” present.

Sport security

Rio Olympics: Brazil vows to be ready in case terror strikes

Rio de Janeiro has long had a reputation for dangerous favelas, with muggings and kidnappings not uncommon. But authorities are stepping up measures to tackle a different kind of security threat altogether when the Rio Olympic Games begin August 5.

Wary that the international sporting event is a potential prime target for terrorists, Brazilian forces have been working with specialist French SWAT teams to simulate attack scenarios.

In one drill, Brazil special forces and a police dog chase down an armed gunman to thwart a possible attack on Rio's subway system. The dramatic display is meant to reassure journalists that a country with limited experience in handling terrorism is ready for the unthinkable.

"There is not a specific threat," said Lt. Gen. Luiz Linhares with the Brazilian Ministry of Defense. "You have to screen for a great (spectrum) of threat."

Sport security

Rio police tell tourists they won't be able to protect them

The Olympic Games are 31 days away -- and Rio de Janeiro is in crisis.

Violence is on the rise, and police officers are at loggerheads with the Rio state government after claiming they've not been paid for months.

The message from police to tourists is clear: We won't be able to protect you.

The state's police officers vented their anger Monday with a sign saying, "Welcome to Hell," outside Rio's main airport. "Police and firefighters don't get paid, whoever comes to Rio de Janeiro will not be safe," the sign said.

And it's not just those coming from abroad who may be in danger -- locals are losing patience, too.

That's the harsh reality in the favelas around Rio, according to one resident, as the city gears up to host the 2016 Olympics amid increasing concerns over police brutality and the officers' ability, and desire, to keep people safe.

Sport security

ISIS Poses “Credible Threat” To Rio Olympics

ISIS poses a “credible threat” to the Rio Olympics, admitted Brazil’s Counterterrorism Director Luiz Alberto Sallaberry, but numerous measures are being taken to prevent an attack. With just three month until the Games commence, the country is on high alert and preparing for any eventuality.

Due to the country’s relatively low profile in the international arena and its non-aligned status, Brazil has historically faced little threat from extremists. However, due to the high publicity of the event, increasing extremist activity worldwide, and a rise in the number of ISIS-sympathising Brazilian nationals the threat level for the South American country has increased dramatically, Sallaberry said in a statement.

Brazil has undertaken multiple measures to prevent disaster, Sallaberry said, including increasing information sharing programmes with foreign intelligence agencies.

Sport security

Fan arrested for smuggling flare in rectum

An 18-year-old Frenchman has been arrested after he smuggled a flare hidden in his rectum into a fan zone.

The man succeeded in sneaking past security checks with the 4cm x 18cm flare hidden away, before lighting it once inside the Nice fan zone.

'The supporter managed to burn himself and two other fans,' said Nice prosecutor, Jean-Michel Pretre.

The fan, who had been watching France's 2-0 win over Albania, is set to appear in court on Monday.

Sport security

The Olympics Are Turning Rio into a Military State

Rio's hundreds of surveillance cameras are easy to view on the 85 square meter display in the panopticon-style Center for Integrated Command and Control (CICC) or the equally huge screen in the Operations Center of Rio (COR).

If you glance at these camera streams at the right time, you'll see a jeep or two full of military police officers with machine guns, the barrels sticking out of the windows as they cruise by. You might see police arrest demonstrators protesting what many arecalling a coup against President Dilma Rousseff. Or, you might catch the military or police killing black youth in a favela, or storming one of the dozens of secondary schools currently occupied by student activists who want improvements to Brazil's underfunded educational system.

This is the host of the rapidly approaching 2016 Summer Olympics. Brazilians don’t seem very excited about it—understandable given the current political situation, and the Games’ cost. Lawmakers have used Brazil’s recent series of mega-events to justify huge investments in security technology. But the tools the police and military now possess aren't temporary. They are lasting legacies. And the combination of this technology, a new hawkish government, and ongoing human rights abuses by the military and law enforcement in Brazil spells disaster.

Sport security

Euro 2016: 82 security staff revealed to be on terror watch list – French intelligence

The Directorate General of Internal Security (ISB) has screened a total of 3,500 individuals already hired for the job of ensuring the safety of visitors, according to Le Point. Those among the 82 found on the watch list could by definition either belong to a terrorist group, such as Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL), or have a history of questionable behavior or extreme beliefs on either the left or right.

According to French authorities, some 90,000 personnel in total will be on duty during Euro 2016, including the stadiums, fan zones and on the streets. Of those, 77,000 are police and gendarmerie, while the rest comprise security and military personnel, as well as 1,000 or so volunteers.

"Such a unique event in exceptional circumstances requires extra security measures," Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve told.

Sport security

Boxing legend Muhammad Ali dies at age 74

Boxing legend Muhammad Ali has passed away at the age of 74 following a 30-year battle with Parkinson’s disease.The former heavyweight champion was hospitalized for respiratory issues on Thursday, but family members close to the sports star told AP on Friday that his condition was more serious than previously thought....

The Kentucky-born fighter also came up against one of the most powerful opponents of all in the late 1960s – “Big power America.”

When US legislators desperate to cast a wider recruitment net for the Vietnam War relaxed draft eligibility standards, it pulled Ali (still known as Clay) towards the frontline of a conflict he didn’t believe in.

Never one to waver in his beliefs, the then 25-year-old stood up and refused to be inducted into the army on religious grounds in 1967.  

“My conscience won’t let me shoot my brother, or some darker people, or some poor hungry people in the mud for big power America,” Ali said at the time.

“And shoot them for what? They never called me n****r, they never lynched me, they didn’t put no dogs on me, they didn’t rob me of my nationality, rape and kill my mother and father... How can I shoot them poor people? Just take me to jail,” Ali said in an interview broadcast on television.

Sport security

Anti-Crime Training Underway For Rio Olympics As Brazil Bolsters Security

Developing the specialized skills to identify and more effectively combat crimes linked to sports is the focus of two training courses in Brazil this week, ahead of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Jointly run by INTERPOL and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) with the cooperation of the Brazilian Federal Police, the first workshop (May 30 and 31) brought together senior representatives from law enforcement, the Ministry of Justice, judges, prosecutors, the national lottery, national sports federations, the Organising Committee of the Rio 2016 Olympics and academia.

The course focused on the legal tools available to deal with competition manipulation, sports betting, doping and other criminal matters in sport.

The second event, a law enforcement training course (June 2 and 3) targets specialist sports investigators with an emphasis on case evaluation, evidence collection and information exchange.

Both courses are aimed at raising awareness and strengthening the capacity of Brazilian authorities to deal with a range of potential crimes in relation to integrity in sports ahead of, and during, the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, particularly competition manipulation and doping.