MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 03rd January, 2019) Linda Hofstad Helleland, the vice president of the World Anti-Doping Agency, suggested that the agency should act rapidly and immediately convene a meeting of its Compliance Review Committee (CRC) on the status of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) in the wake of the international agency's statement that RUSADA had failed to provide it with access to the Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory's data.
In September, WADA's Executive board voted to reinstate RUSADA, noting that the Russian agency's non-compliance with the international anti-doping regulations might be reinstated if RUSADA failed to give WADA access to the data and samples of the Moscow anti-doping laboratory before December 31. However, a WADA mission tasked with retrieving raw data from the Moscow laboratory has not managed to complete the task in time due to the issues related to the certification of the equipment used by it to extract the data. WADA said on Tuesday it had not received access to the data in time, adding that the CRC would present recommendations on the status of RUSADA after its session in mid-January.
"We at WADA must act very rapidly on the actual situation and a decision by the WADA CRC and ExCo should not be delayed - I've strongly suggested that the CRC convene via a teleconference immediately. As soon as we receive a recommendation from the CRC, a teleconference should be organized with the ExCo so that we can discuss and decide on the situation without any further delay," Helleland told the BCC broadcaster.
The official expressed disappointment with WADA not receiving the data of the Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory within the three-month time frame, adding that still, she was not surprised with the situation.
RUSADA was suspended in 2015 over accusations of violation of the international anti-doping rules. The doping scandal in the Russian sports led to sanctions against the Russian athletes, including stripping some of them of their 2016 Summer Olympics medals and imposing restrictions on the Russian national team ahead of the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, have refuted allegations of the existence of the state-run doping program but admitted there were issues with doping abuse in Russia.
