WADA chief hits back at criticism
LONDON: World Anti-Doping Agency president Craig Reedie has described as “deeply offensive” an accusation that the agency put money over clean sport following its decision to lift a ban on Russia’s antidoping agency.
The decision was taken last week at a meeting of WADA’s executive committee in Victoria, the capital of the Indian Ocean island of Seychelles.
The agency suspended RUSADA in November 2015 after declaring it noncompliant following revelations of a vast state-backed scheme to avoid drug testers.
The softening of WADA’s stance triggered outrage from athletes and national antidoping agencies around the world. They accused WADA of succumbing to pressure from the International Olympic Committee.
But in an open letter, Reedie, who said Russian doping had “poisoned sport”, defended WADA’s move.
“Emotions are running understandably high,” he said. “With Russian relations returning to Cold War levels of frostiness, there has been much recent public criticism of WADA for permitting and even enabling rehabilitation.
“In particular, the accusation that WADA — and me personally — have pandered to the interests of money over clean sport are totally untrue, and deeply offensive. The author of those remarks, as a former director general of WADA [David Howman], should know better.”