World Anti-Doping Agency hits Russian athletics with another official sanction

Last week, WADA formally moved to suspend the accreditation of the Moscow Antidoping Center, the lab that was implicated in a 320-page report led by former WADA chief Dick Pound alleging state-sponsored, systematic doping among Russian track and field athletes.

Without an operating anti-doping agency, Russian Federation cannot host or bid for worldwide events. He called the recommendations in the report – most notably, the potential banning of the Russian track team from the Rio Olympics – “a real deterrence”.

“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”.

“By stopping the activities of our anti-doping bodies, we are ceasing all kinds of work to fight doping on Russian territory”, Mutko said, adding that his country was requesting that the laboratory be promptly re-accredited.

Russia’s member on the WADA Foundation board, deputy sports minister Pavel Kolobkov, sat stoically during the vote, which he was not part of.

The prospect of Russian athletes being welcomed back into the fold for the Olympics is causing alarm among rivals, with questions swirling over whether the country can rebuild a credible anti-doping regime in time for Rio. There is pressure from our athletes saying ‘That’s not enough.’ But I’m not sure they’re necessarily right. Should those “watch list” countries not meet the deadline, they would be deemed non-compliant.

Scott’s proposal delivered context into a debate about the WADA budget, which stands at about $26 million a year and is in line for a 2 or 3 percent increase, but clearly needs more if thorough investigations are going to continue. In response, the IAAF set up an inspection team to verify the reforms programme which could make RAF’s readmission possible.

Under the global Olympic Committee initiative, individual sports bodies would be removed from involvement in dope-testing.

Craig Reedie, left, president of the World Anti-Doping Agency, (WADA), sits with current WADA director general David Howman, during a news conference following a meeting in which WADA leadership voted to declare Russia’s ant… “A strong deterrent message must be sent”. Coventry said swimmers at the FINA World Championships in Kazan were disappointed that several competitors, including Russian Yulia Efimova, were able to participate despite having been caught using performance enhancing drugs.

“Anti-doping in sport is under the spotlight today like never before, and WADA, along with our partners, have begun the work needed on the road to recovery for Russian Federation”.

Track and field has been plunged into crisis over a report that uncovered a sophisticated state-supp … “Nobody has turned around and said “By the way, this is how we are going to pay for it”.