WADA athlete chair calls for all sports to be investigated

Without an operating anti-doping agency, Russian Federation can not host or bid for worldwide events.

Wada’s foundation board voted unanimously to pass the measure after Mr Bouchard’s submission. “We are at a crossroads in sports. This is pivotal moment”.

Moses won the bronze medal in the 400 hurdles at the Seoul Olympics, which got swallowed up in the Ben Johnson doping scandal – at the time, the most blatant and high-profile case the sport had seen.

Bolivia, Ukraine and Argentina were found to be using non-accredited laboratories, while Israel and Andorra were judged not to have the rules of the code in place. According to Canadian Richard Pound, the former head of the World Anti-Doping Agency and vice-president of the worldwide Olympic Committee, the recent findings are “the tip of the iceberg”.

Issuing all its communications via Twitter, WADA added: “Importance of effective sanctions absolutely key 2deterring countries from practicing inadequate anti-doping programs”.

Beckie Scott, an Olympic champion cross-country skier for Canada, says she’s approached by athletes around the world who wonder why the probe hasn’t involved all Russian sports.

This week, with WADA holding meetings in Colorado Springs, Colo., there have been calls for a broader investigation of all Russian sports.

And WADA posted on its Twitter account: “WADA has requested Kenya to answer questions relating to its anti-doping program”.

“I’ve spoken to a number of athletes”.

Last week, WADA formally suspended the accreditation of the Moscow Antidoping Center, the lab that was implicated in the report. Its director has since been removed. “If we had insufficient evidence, we said so”.

“If I am clean athlete the only thing I need to be concerned with is that another clean athlete is next to me on the platform”, Pound said. “Anyone paying the slightest bit of attention to that report will know exactly what we’re saying”.

Earlier, the WADA confirmed that the activities of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) were inconsistent to the lawbook of the organization. “Nobody has turned around and said “By the way, this is how we are going to pay for it”. “Whistle-blowers are the unsung heroes in all of this”.

These anti-doping organisations will not be permitted to resume operations until they “reinstall quality programmes and are deemed compliant again”. It receives about half its $26 million annual budget from the global Olympic Committee and the rest from participating governments from around the world.