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Doping scandal in Russian sports

WADA initiates fast-track RUSADA non-compliance issue consideration

WADA gave Russia three weeks to explain Moscow lab database inconsistencies

© Sergei Bobylev/TASS

MOSCOW, 23 September. /TASS/. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has launched a fast-track procedure of considering the issue of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) non-compliance, Head of the Council of Europe’s Sport Conventions Division and member of RUSADA Supervisory Board Sergey Khrychikov told TASS.

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WADA gives Russia three weeks to explain manipulation with Moscow lab’s data

"WADA has initiated the fast-track consideration of RUSADA’s non-compliance issue in accordance with the International Standard for Code Compliance. This decision was made based on inconsistencies between WADA’s LIMS database and data from the Moscow lab retrieved in January 2019," Khrychikov said.

The decision was made at the WADA Executive Committee meeting held in Tokyo on Monday.

WADA has given Russia three weeks to explain the changes identified in the Moscow lab database, Sergey Khrychikov told TASS.

"The Russian side is asked to prepare and submit explanations of these inconsistencies to WADA in three weeks’ time," he stated.

Earlier, German ARD journalist Hajo Seppelt revealed that Russia was suspected of having manipulated the data from the Moscow laboratory, which the WADA Compliance Review Committee informed the Executive Committee about at its meeting on September 23.

RUSADA was reinstated last September after fulfilling a number of conditions. The Russian side was obliged to provide WADA with access to original database of the Moscow lab containing information on Russian athletes’ checks and doping samples given between 2012 and 2015.

Russia submitted all the necessary data to WADA, however, the conditions laid out that the requirements would be considered fulfilled only if the integrity of the database was confirmed. Currently, doubts have been raised about that, which prompts WADA to initiate consideration of RUSADA’s non-compliance issue with the international code.

RUSADA was seeking reinstatement for almost three years — since November 2015. Back then, the organization was stripped of its compliance status following a doping scandal around the Russian athletics. The ban was repeatedly reinstated in line with the investigation led by a WADA independent commission spearheaded by Richard McLaren.

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