MILAN /Italy/, February 5. /TASS/. The timing of the reinstatement of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) may coincide with the end of the conflict in Ukraine, but there is no direct connection between these issues, said World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Director General Olivier Niggli.
"The current ban is not related to anti-doping," Niggli said. "The Russian Anti-Doping Agency still does not have compliance status, but for a different reason. In particular, we are continuing the judicial process and discussion of Russian legislation, which needs to be amended to comply with the Court of Arbitration for Sport’s ruling. So there are other elements that are still in the process of being resolved.
"RUSADA works in Russia, we maintain contacts with them, and we have a working relationship. Do not forget that Russia, in terms of anti-doping, was suspended in the pre-war period, and now the suspension period has expired. This is why I do not think that the anti-doping aspect will affect the participation of Russians in international sports competitions. There are other reasons. The timeframe may be similar [to the end of the conflict], or it may be different, we are following our process."
The Russian Anti-Doping Agency is currently deemed non-compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code. The World Anti-Doping Agency audited RUSADA in 2022 and said Russia needed to introduce anti-doping amendments to the federal law "On Physical Culture and Sport in the Russian Federation."
Draft amendments to the Law on Sport clarify the concepts of "doping," "doping control," "testing," "out-of-competition" and "competitive" periods to bring the concepts in line with the World Anti-Doping Code. After the amendments are approved, athletes' doping samples can be analyzed not only by the laboratories accredited by WADA, but also by WADA laboratories approved in other ways. The bill also augments the list of anti-doping rule violations provided for in part 3 of Article 26 of the Law on Sport. For instance, complicity or attempted complicity on the part of an athlete or other person in the commission of an anti-doping rule violation or in an attempt to commit an anti-doping rule violation will be considered a violation.