PUTIN THE BOOT IN..
RUSSIAN president Vladimir Putin believes there are grounds to appeal against a four-year ban imposed for drug-test tampering and claimed the punishment was politically motivated. The World Anti-doping Agency’s executive committee unanimously accepted a recommendation from its independent compliance review unit to impose sanctions. These include barring teams under a Russian flag from competing at global sporting events, including the Olympic and Paralympic Games of 2020 and 2022 and the 2022 World Cup.
Putin insisted the Court of Arbitration for Sport would be asked to overturn the decision. “We have all the reasons to file an appeal to CAS,” he said.
Russia will not be allowed to host international events although individual athletes may be able to compete if they can prove their tests were not among those tampered with.
Putin was unhappy with the sweeping punishment, adding: “It cannot be collective and affect those people who have nothing to do with certain violations.
“I think WADA specialists understand this as well. If some of them make such decisions on collective punishment, then it seems to me there are grounds to believe it is not care for clean global sports that is behind this, but rather political considerations that have nothing to do with the interests of sports and the Olympic movement.” The sanctions relate to data obtained from a Moscow laboratory this year. WADA found deletions and changes had been made after a ban imposed on Russia in 2015 was lifted in September last year. Despite Putin’s protests, WADA vice-president Linda Helleland (above) had hoped for harsher punishment.
“I’d have liked to see the consequences to be even tougher,” she said. “I’d have preferred to support a blanket ban. “A blanket ban can make the Russian leadership realise the seriousness of the mess they have created – for themselves and for their athletes.”
Russia has 21 days to respond to the WADA decision.