Lawyer: FIFA not seeking whistleblower’s info
FIFA has made no attempt to contact Russian doping whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov to gain information about “many” footballers embroiled in the widespread conspiracy by the 2018 World Cup host nation, according to his lawyer.
“Dr Rodchenkov has information about Russian footballers being protected by the statesponsored doping system,” lawyer Jim Walden told The Associated Press.
If FIFA thoroughly explores Rodchenkov’s evidence, it could sharpen the focus on doping in football and further undermine Russia’s integrity ahead of the World Cup. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko bowed to mounting pressure this week over his role in the doping scheme and quit as both head of the World Cup organising committee and the Russian Football Union, while protesting his innocence.
Players from Russia’s 2014 World Cup squad are among 34 football cases under suspicion after being identified in a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) investigation by Professor Richard McLaren into drug use across Russian sports that relied on evidence and cooperation from Rodchenkov, the former Moscow and Sochi lab director.
“He was informed that Russian football players were to be protected with the disappearing positive methodology,” Walden said.
Having fled Russia to expose corruption, Rodchenkov is now living in hiding in the United States and assisting investigations through Walden when requests are made.
“WADA and McLaren ... have passed on questions from other federations,” the New Yorkbased Walden said in a telephone interview. “Not a single time did they indicate that FIFA wanted to get in touch with me or wanted information from Dr. Rodchenkov.”
INVESTIGATOR
It startles Walden that FIFA President Gianni Infantino is yet to hire an independent investigator to “conduct a full, thorough internal investigation to determine whether or not Russian doping impacted the World Cup team.”
“They haven’t come close to doing that,” Walden said. “My suspicion is they won’t.”
Although Rodchenkov has admitting to overseeing the destruction of about 8,000 doping controls in 2014 following a German television exposé, WADA managed to retrieve 3,000 samples, including 154 from football players. Retests in Switzerland produced no positive results, but they are yet to be subject to forensic analysis to detect manipulation of the samples, including scratch marks, which could prove that bottles were forced open and tainted urine swapped out.