TOKYO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd July, 2021) The restoration of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) will be a long process, World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) President Witold Banka told Sputnik, emphasizing that the Russian agency should be completely independent of the country's government.
In December 2019, the WADA Executive Committee recognized RUSADA as not compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code. RUSADA disagreed with the decision, and the case was transferred to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which published its verdict on December 17, 2020. Russia was prohibited from holding world championships and the Olympic and Paralympic Games for two years. In addition, Russian athletes cannot perform under the national flag at major tournaments.
"We work with them. It depends [on] how quick they fulfill the requirements. It's up to them how will they work with WADA, how they will fulfill all our requirements and the roadmap. I don't want to speculate, I don't want now to say when it's possible. [We should] give the both sides chance to work together," Banka said, noting that restoration will be a long process in any case.
"There are lot of key points in terms of how they should work. But one of the most important issues for us in general is the fact that RUSADA should remain independent, should be free of any interference from the public authorities side. They should be totally operationally independent. This is the core of antidoping policy, and that is what we expect from public authorities in Russia," Banka added.
