Doping scandal in Russia: Grigory Rodchenkov calls for more punishment

Whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov has welcomed the sanctions of the World Anti-Doping Agency against Russia and at the same time called for harsh punishment for those responsible for sports fraud. "At last, fraud, lies and counterfeits of indescribable proportions were fully punished," the former head of the Moscow Antidishers Laboratory said in a personal statement quoted by the BBC in a report.

"Those involved in the corruption of certain sports, such as athletics, weightlifting, skiing, biathlon and bobsleigh, should be punished retrospectively," said Rodtschenkow, who has been living in an unknown location in the US since fleeing his homeland since 2016. "The results of the Olympic Games in London (2012) and Sochi (2014) should be re-analyzed and re-evaluated with the evidence available today," said the key witness in the investigation of the Russian doping system.

Statement by Russian doping mastermind-turned-whistleblower Dr Gregory Rodchenkov pic.twitter.com/fn4Y1YzjJY

"There is a whole generation of clean athletes who have given up their dreams painfully and lost their awards because of Russian fraudsters," said Rodchenkov. "We have to take the toughest measures to bring justice back to the sport."

The Wada Executive Committee on Monday confirmed the recommendation of the independent review commission CRC and suspended the Russian anti-doping agency Rusada until 2023. Athletes of the country who have not been involved in the state doping scandal may only start as neutral athletes during this period. This applies to the Olympic and Paralympic Games 2020 in Tokyo and 2022 in Beijing, the Youth Olympic Games and World Championships of sports that have signed the Wada Code, as well as so-called "Major Sport Events".

In the coming weeks, however, Russia may contest the verdict before the International Court of Justice Cas. Russian President Vladimir Putin promised this step. "We have to look at this decision very carefully," said Putin on the night of Tuesday. However, it was obvious that there was no legal basis for the decision and that it did not comply with the statutes of the Olympic Games. "We have every reason to file a lawsuit with the Cas."

• Rusada boss Ganus: The clean athletes are the victims

Putin stressed that his country should not be punished collectively for individual cases of doping. "There is reason to believe that such decisions are not about the cleanliness of world sports, but about political considerations that are not in the interests of sport and the Olympic movement."

Barrier to Russia: "Label fraud in large parts"

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AFP / THE MIRROR

The Russian lock is due to the dispute over manipulated data from the Moscow antidoping laboratory. The delivery to the Wada was in September 2018 a prerequisite for the resumption of the Russian anti-doping agency Rusada. The dataset should document the extent of the doping scandal and allow for individualized procedures against athletes. According to the report of the inspection commission, however, thousands of data had been deleted or manipulated.