Russia on thin ice for PyeongChang
The World Anti-Doping Agency placed Russia’s fate for the upcoming Winter Olympics on perilous ground, refusing to reinstate the country’s suspended anti-doping operation while Russia remained insistent the government is not to blame.
At its meeting Thursday in South Korea, WADA handed Russia the equivalent of a failing grade, saying two key requirements for reinstating the Russian Anti-Doping Agency had not been fulfilled:
Russia must publicly accept results of an investigation by Ontario lawyer Richard McLaren that concluded the country ran a statesponsored doping program, and it must allow access to urine samples collected during the time of the alleged cheating.
“We can’t walk away from the commitments,” said Craig Reedie, the chairman of WADA and also a member of the International Olympic Committee, which will ultimately decide Russia’s fate.
Reedie refused to speculate as to what impact Thursday’s decision might have on the IOC.
“We do not have the right to decide who takes part in international competition,” he said. “I am quite certain that the IOC would prefer that RUSADA was compliant.”
In discussing Thursday’s decision, WADA director general Olivier Niggli said the conditions of reinstatement have been exchanged with RUSADA “over 25 times in the last 18 months,” and were still not completely fulfilled.
Though it’s not fully reinstated, RUSADA has made improvements that allow it to collect samples from athletes, though there have been reports that the agency isn’t testing the most relevant athletes.
In Moscow, RUSADA head Yuri Ganus said his agency had reformed to WADA standards and was now “completely independent,” but the key remaining demands were outside his authority.
Ganus wouldn’t say if he personally accepts McLaren’s findings or if the Russian government should do so, though he called the report “a very serious document.”