Russia is taking legal steps to allow its athletes to participate in the general Olympics. The Russian anti-doping agency is appealing to the International Sports Court Cas against exclusion from the games and world championships for the next four years. The Rusada announced on Thursday at a press conference in Moscow.
Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin immediately rejected the new punishments as "unjust". The country was punished several times for the same violation, he criticized. "This is unfair," said Putin. "Every punishment should be individual." The majority of athletes in Russia are clean, the president emphasized. Russia would therefore do everything possible so that its athletes could compete under their national flag at the Olympic Games. Rusada boss Juri Ganus, however, described the chances of success of an appeal as hopeless.
At its executive meeting in Lausanne on December 9, the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) decided to exclude Russia for four years. Accordingly, Russian athletes are only allowed to participate as neutral athletes without a national flag and anthem. In addition, Russia cannot host until 2023, nor can it apply to host major competitions.
The Rusada had 21 days to appeal to the Cas. The European Football Championship next year with games in St. Petersburg and the Champions League final in 2021 there will not be affected because, according to the Wada definition, these are only regional events.
Forensic studies by Wada experts had shown that the doping data from the Moscow laboratory from 2012 to 2015 are "neither completely nor completely authentic". This could be demonstrated in comparison to a data copy leaked from a whistleblower in 2017. According to Wada, Russia "deleted or changed hundreds of suspected adverse analysis results". 145 alleged doping cases are said to have been covered up or falsified.
