Insight of Craig Reedie on the verge of farewell: The outgoing president of the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) said at the Wada conference in Katowice that the scale and size of the Russian doping scandal had been "unprecedented" and overwhelmed his organization at the time.
"It was the worst case of system failures in my time as president and in the history of the anti-doping movement," said the Scottish critic for his actions in the Russia case. "What he (the scandal, Red.) Taught us was that we were not prepared for such an extensive program."
At the same time, Reedie once again defended the decision to cancel the ban on the Russian anti-doping agency Rusada in September 2018, even though not all conditions were met: "There was a stalemate between Wada and Russia - there was no option to keep them locked up." A possible renewed Rusada ban on data counterfeiting could now become one of his last official acts after evidence. A decision should be made later this year.
- Read here what the current case against Russia is all about : Wada advises on consequences in the Russian doping scandal.
Reedie will leave office at the end of the year to Witold Banka. When the words of the President-elect follow, hard times are breaking for doping cheaters. "The future of the fight against doping begins today," Banka said at the Wada conference.
Meanwhile, IOC President Thomas Bach has announced plans to allocate $ 10 million to an action plan and launch a gene test at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. He could make a blood doping test weeks or even months after EPO ingestion possible.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) wants to apply the gene method even if it is not recognized by the Wada until the Tokyo Games. The samples are first frozen for later overnight testing. The IOC wants to spend half of the $ 10 million on more extensive storage before and during the Olympics. At night tests of the samples of the Beijing 2008 Summer Games and London 2012, around 120 samples were positive.