World Anti-Doping Agency president Sir Craig Reedie has been left “bitterly disappointed” by Russia missing the deadline to hand over data from its anti-doping laboratory in Moscow.
In September, Wada lifted its suspension of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (Rusada), which was imposed in November 2015, pending the meeting of conditions in a “roadmap to compliance”. The controversial move upset athletes and athlete groups.
One of the conditions of the suspension of Rusada being lifted was to allow independent access to the raw data held at the Moscow lab, but on December 21 Wada admitted it had been unable to “complete its mission”.
United States Anti-Doping Agency chief executive Travis Tygart has urged Wada to “stop being played by the Russians”, describing the episode as “a total joke and an embarrassment for Wada and the global anti-doping system”.
A statement from Wada issued on January 1st, 2019 read: “The December 31 2018 deadline – by which time the Russian authorities had to provide access to the data – has elapsed without the data having been retrieved.
“The deadline was one of two conditions stipulated in Wada’s 20 September Executive Committee (ExCo) decision regarding the Russian Anti-Doping Agency’s (Rusada’s) compliance with the World Anti-Doping Code.”
Wada will now refer the matter to the independent compliance review committee, which has its next meeting on January 14th.
Reedie believes the deadline had been “clearly in the best interest of clean sport”. He said: “I am bitterly disappointed that data extraction from the former Moscow Laboratory has not been completed by the date agreed by Wada’s ExCo in September 2018. Since then, Wada has been working diligently with the Russian authorities to meet the deadline, which was clearly in the best interest of clean sport. The process agreed by Wada’s ExCo in September will now be initiated.”
The Moscow lab is sealed for a Russian federal investigation and the five-person independent team, led by Dr Jose Antonio Pascual, was told its equipment to be used for the data extraction was required to be certified under Russian law.
The state-sponsored use of performance-enhancing drugs by Russians in Olympic and Paralympic sports emerged in independent reports in November 2015 and July and December 2016.
Wada confirmed it had written to Russia’s Minister of Sport Pavel Kolobkov and the director general of Rusada Yury Ganus to “officially notify them of the situation and to remind them of the next steps in the process.”
If the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (Rusada) is eventually declared non-compliant, its nation’s athletes will again be banned from international competition, but Russia’s sports minister on Saturday said a deal had been reached.
The already drawn-out saga could be set for more lengthy legal considerations, with Rusada having the right to take the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in order to reach a final decision.
Any compromise in extending the deadline is sure to be met with criticism by athletes and officials across Olympic and Paralympic sport.
USADA chief executive Tygart feels decisive action must be delivered.
“In September, Wada secretly moved the goal posts and reinstated Russia against the wishes of athletes, governments and the public,” Tygart said.
“In doing this Wada guaranteed Russia would turn over the evidence of its state-supported doping scheme by today (December 31st).
“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.
“We hold athletes strictly accountable, so states that intentionally rob clean athletes and corrupt the Olympic values – through the worst doping scandal in sporting history no less – should also be held accountable.”
