The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Athlete Commission said in a statement on Tuesday that its members were "devastated" after WADA's decision to reinstate the rights of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA).
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th September, 2018) The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Athlete Commission said in a statement on Tuesday that its members were "devastated" after WADA's decision to reinstate the rights of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA).
On Thursday, World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) President Craig Reedie said that most members of the WADA Executive Committee had voted to reinstate the status of RUSADA following its suspension in 2015 over violations of the World Anti-Doping Code. Nine out of 12 WADA Executive Committee members voted for the reinstatement of RUSADA.
"As clean athletes we are devastated with WADA's decision to reinstate RUSADA without the completion of the road map. RUSADA is back, yet there has been no public acceptance of wrongdoing, and the samples still sit locked away in the Moscow lab. We had expected that WADA would stand up for clean athletes and clean sport, instead we have seen nuance and pragmatism overtake justice and accountability," the commission said in a statement published by its chair Beckie Scott on Twitter.
The WADA decision shows that the opinion of clean athletes does not matter, according to the commission.
"Despite this, we will continue to fight for what we know is right, for clean sports and clean athletes," the statement concluded.
The Athletes' Commission was supported by the Olympic committees of Ireland, Germany and the Netherlands, as well as by athletes' commissions of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), the International Badminton Federation, and the European Elite Athletes Association (EEAA, or EU Athletes).
WADA's decision to reinstate RUSADA was met with criticism from some officials and agencies. Particularly, the UK Anti-Doping authority (UKAD) questioned the agency's independence in the vote. Canadian professor Richard McLaren, the author of the high-profile WADA report on doping in Russian sports claimed that the decision showed that WADA had abandoned the idea of making Russia comply with the rules.
