Moscow doping data now being extracted by WADA
Critics feel Russia has been treated too generously in being allowed to deliver data 10 days late, and are skeptical Russia will be fully held to account for the biggest doping scandal in sporting history
A team of three WADA officials is in Moscow and has begun the process of retrieving data from the RUSADA Laboratory, according to a report on the Inside the Games site. A larger team was turned away last month when Russia declared the tools to be used were not compliant with Russian law, but an “understanding” has now been reached and Russian officials are working alongside WADA staff to get the data transferred.
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There is no indication how long the process is expected to take. Meanwhile, WADA’s Compliance Review Committee is scheduled to meet in Montreal on Monday and Tuesday to discuss possible consequences for Russia having missed the December 31 deadline for the data to be handed over, imposed as a condition of its controversial re-instatement in September 2018. The CRC will then make recommendations to the executive committee.
The CRC was loudly criticized by USADA head Travis Tygart, Swedish Winter Olympian biathlete Sebastian Samuelsson and others for not immediately meeting and recommending the Russian ban be re-imposed after the missed deadline. In response, the WADA’s Canadian founding president, Richard Pound, lashed back, likening critics to a lynch mob and insisting that due process be followed.
Tygart has made reference to 9,000 potential doping violations by 4,000 Russian athletes. Critics have expressed skepticism over the integrity of the data now being extracted in Moscow, as well as over the likelihood of sanctions being imposed for the missed deadline.
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