Russia, five other countries deemed ‘non-compliant’ by anti-doping agency

Key figures in the anti-doping movement, including Olympic champions Edwin Moses and Beckie Scott, have called for banning the Russian track team from next year’s Olympics and for the probe in Russia to extend beyond track and field.

WADA’s foundation board, meeting in Colorado Springs, said the agency would explore the idea put forward by the International Olympic Committee at a summit in Lausanne last month.

WADA capped a big fortnight for their cause, and a miserable one for Russian Federation, by suspending the country’s anti-doping agency on the back of an independent commission report that uncovered evidence of state-sponsored doping and cover-ups.

Russian Deputy Sports Minister Pavel Kolobkov had told the WADA executive board earlier on November 18 that if the lab stayed decertified, the Russian government might withdraw its funding.

New Zealander David Howman, right, the director general of the…

WADA should expand the independent commission’s powers to enable it to check all sports in Russian Federation (for doping), the organization’s press service quoted Scott as saying at a meeting of the WADA founders’ council.

“In a sense, I don’t care whether you’re there with clean athletes if the only reason is fear of getting caught, as opposed to thinking that’s the right thing to do”.

Science, a few argue, can lead the way in achieving clean, or at least cleaner, sport.

“The same with coaches, you say: ‘Folks, the old Soviet system is over, we’re not going to do that anymore and if that is your method of coaching don’t let the door hit you in the butt on the way out'”.

Russian marathon runner Viktor Ugarov is facing further sanction after winning a race in Japan while his country is suspended from IAAF competition.

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”. “The degree of punishment for athletes [in Russia] is the same as it is in other countries”, Mutko stressed on Wednesday.

More urgently discussed was WADA’s ability to deal with the noncompliance declaration and the doping allegations that go beyond Russia’s track team.

Russia, Argentina, Ukraine, Bolivia, Andorra and Israel have been declared non-compliant.

The “non-compliant” countries have failed to responded fully to Wada’s request for information and Argentina, Bolivia and Ukraine have been found to be using non-accredited laboratories, which is a breach of the code.