The World Anti-Doping Agency has been accused of being “played by the Russians” and a “total joke” after it confirmed it had not retrieved or received crucial doping data from the Moscow laboratory by its 31 December deadline.
The Wada president, Sir Craig Reedie, who had been “confident” the data would be collected a few weeks ago, admitted he was “bitterly disappointed” at the news that one of Wada’s strict conditions, set when it controversially lifted the three-year suspension on the Russian Anti-Doping Agency in September despite enormous anger from anti-doping groups and athletes, had not been met.
Yet it had been on the cards since before Christmas after Wada’s team of experts, led by Dr José Antonio Pascual, left Moscow empty-handed having failed to access the underlying data from the laboratory. The sticking point was a row over the specialist IT equipment Wada was using to extract data, which some reports have suggested had been wiped. “Wada has been working diligently with the Russian authorities to meet the deadline, which was clearly in the best interest of clean sport,” added Reedie.
However, Travis Tygart, the chief executive of US Anti-Doping, blamed Wada for being soft on Russia and for having concocted a secret deal with the country’s authorities in September to let Rusada back in. “The situation is a total joke and an embarrassment for Wada and the global anti-doping system,” he added. “In September Wada secretly moved the goal-posts and reinstated Russia against the wishes of athletes, governments and the public. In doing this Wada guaranteed Russia would turn over the evidence of its state-supported doping scheme.”
Tygart also called for Rusada to be immediately suspended again, which would stop Russia hosting major events and also leave the country’s athletes facing other possible sanctions. “No one is surprised this deadline was ignored and it’s time for Wada to stop being played by the Russians and immediately declare them non-compliant for failing yet again to meet the deadline,” he added.
Wada’s independent Compliance Review Committee will consider its options when it meets on 14 January. However the prospect of Russia being banned from the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo seems slim after the president of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, used his new year message to say the Russia Olympic Committee had already been punished enough.
“In Pyeongchang we sanctioned the systematic manipulation of the anti-doping system in Russia during the Olympic Winter Games Sochi 2014,” said Bach . “The IOC sanctioned those entities involved, proportional to their levels of responsibility – with its suspension from Pyeongchang 2018, the Russian Olympic Committee has served its sanction.”
Many athletes, however, remain angry that Wada and the IOC has not been tougher on Russia given the country has never formally admitted to a sophisticated state-sponsored doping programme involving more than 1,000 athletes and 30 sports. That anger was reflected by a statement from the UK Anti-Doping Agency’s athlete commission, which joined Usada in calling for Russia to again be declared non-compliant.
“Unfortunately the Russian government has clearly not fulfilled its promise,” it said. “The Russian state need to prove unequivocally that they have learned from the biggest doping scandal under Wada’s watch, and that they will from this date forward be committed to a drug-free, transparent regime across international sport. Otherwise the Wada compliance review committee and the Wada executive committee must now immediately declare Rusada non-compliant.
“Wada’s leadership has the opportunity to stand up for the interests of athletes, their families, their fans and their sport. In the name of sport, it is time to do what is right.”
