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Sergey Bubka, IAAF Vice President and IOC Executive Board member, released a statement on the recent doping allegations made in the ARD/WDR documentary:

This is undoubtedly a challenging time for athletics. As a Vice President of the IAAF, I am deeply shocked and understand that we need to act quickly and transparently now in order to protect the integrity of our sport. Very serious allegations have been made in the German (ARD/WDR) documentary involving such a large number of athletes and officials.

I believe in a zero tolerance policy against doping and we have to consistently and relentlessly fight against what is the biggest threat to sport in the 21st Century. We have to educate and guide athletes at a very young age about the dangers and the risks of doping. No athlete thinks about doping when they are at the start of their careers. We should fight the criminal networks, which make millions on doping and we should punish also doctors, judges, coaches, managers and others if they are involved in doping and corruption. This is not an easy task due to different laws in different countries. But without fighting the whole network, one cannot win the fight against doping. 

Ten years ago in my position as the IOC Athletes’ Commission Member, I voiced my opinion that the focus should not just be on the athletes. Since then the IOC has established the IOC Entourage Commission, of which I am Chairman. Along with my colleagues, we have worked tirelessly with WADA, IFs, NOCs and athletes. We have already achieved necessary changes in the WADA anti-doping code to ensure that not only athletes are being held responsible and sanctioned. We continue our efforts towards clean and fair sports. A Code of Conduct has also been added for the entourage because we need to educate and guide them just like the athletes. What we ultimately need to achieve is a total conviction by the athletes and their entourages that clean competition is the only option for the future of sport.