Doping scandal: Wada Commission recommends new ban on Russia

Wada, the World Anti-Doping Agency, has published a detailed summary of its commission's report on the manipulation scandal surrounding the Russian Anti-Doping Agency Rusada. According to the recommendation, the Rusada is to be excluded for four years from many major sporting events, such as the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.

Already last Friday, the commission published its recommendation to suspend the Russian anti-doping agency Rusada. A decision should be made at the Wada meeting in Paris on 9th December. It is expected that the Executive Committee will follow the recommendations of the Commission. But no matter what the decision will be, the case will probably be renegotiated before the Sports Court of Cas.

The new statement mentions further sanctions to be imposed on Russia. For example, Russia is unlikely to host a major sporting event for four years, and Russian officials would be excluded from all major competitions such as World Championships for the same period. Individual athletes should start only after thorough examination as neutral athletes.

Rusada had been rehabilitated only in 2018

In case of a new suspension, it would be for Russia after Pyeongchang 2018 already the second consecutive Olympic Games in which one would be practically locked out. At that time only selected athletes were allowed to participate, they started under a neutral flag as "Olympic athletes from Russia", on the playing of the national anthem at victories was waived. Also at the summer games in Rio de Janeiro Russian athletes were not allowed to enter at the opening ceremony under their flag.

The decision at the time was based on the government-sponsored doping system disclosed by the McLaren report, which was largely denied by Russia. After the Winter Games, however, the International Olympic Committee had lifted the sanctions again, the Wada had rehabilitated the Russian Anti-Doping Agency Rusada in September 2018 again.

The latest Wada investigation also has to do with the doping scandal of the time: Russia is suspected of manipulating information from the anti-doping laboratory in Moscow for transfer to the Wada. This transfer was a prerequisite for the reintegration of the Rusada in the Wada. While the head of Rusada, Yuri Ganus, addressed the manipulations himself, Minister of Sport Pawel Kolobkov had denied them, mentioning technical problems.