Russia accused of hacking sports entities over doping claims
MOSCOW >> In Russia, sports and the government are closely intertwined.
Top athletes hold military ranks, Olympic medals are a matter of national pride, and champions receive luxury cars in Kremlin ceremonies.
So when Russia was accused of doping its way to the top, the Russian state hit the sports world with a wave of hacker attacks, says an indictment unsealed Thursday by the U.S. Department of Justice and the FBI.
More than 250 athletes’ medical records were published and confidential data from some of the world’s biggest sports organizations — the Olympics, world track and field, FIFA — was published as Russia prepared to host this year’s soccer World Cup.
Scott Brady, U.S. attorney for the Western District of Pennsylvania, said Russia was seeking revenge for some of its team being barred from the 2016 Summer Olympics over widespread drug use and cover-ups.
“This began with a disclosure of Russian state-sponsored doping programs for its athletes. In other words, Russia cheated,” Brady said. “They cheated, they got caught, they were banned from the Olympics, they were mad, and they retaliated. And in retaliating, they broke the law, so they are criminals.”
The hacks were allegedly perpetrated by serving officers of the GRU, Russia’s military intelligence body.
WIGGINS AND RECORDS
The biggest impact of the hacks arguably was felt by cyclist Bradley Wiggins, a fivetime Olympic champion and first British winner of the Tour de France.
Wiggins’ reputation and popularity took a hit when his medical records were published in September 2016 by Fancy Bear, a name allegedly used as an alias by the GRU posing as anti-drugs crusaders. The leaked documents revealed that Wiggins sought therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs) — permission to take a banned drug for medical reasons — for injections of triamcinolone acetate before key races in 2011, 2012 and 2013, including the ‘12 Tour. He denied wrongdoing and said it was to prevent hay fever.
The story was aggressively pursued by British media and a parliamentary committee.