MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 24th November, 2019) Alexey Vlasenko, the president of the Russian Water Polo Federation and the Russian Diving Federation expressed to Sputnik his hope that the decision of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) regarding the status of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) will not lead to sweeping sanctions against all Russian athletes.
On Friday, the Compliance Review Committee recommended WADA's Executive Committee to send RUSADA a notice of non-compliance with a critical requirement of the International Standard for Code Compliance by Signatories, the recommendation risking to rob Russian athletes of their chance to participate in international competitions, including next year's Tokyo Olympics and the Beijing 2022 Olympics.
"We already were in that horrible situation prior to the [2016 Summer] Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, when we thought whether we would be allowed [to participate] or not, although neither our synchronized swimmers, nor divers, nor water polo players were caught violating doping regulations ... I hope that there will not be a case when everyone is banned, and it is a shared responsibility, for someone's misconduct," Vlasenko told Sputnik
He added that those with well-established record of using doping would likely to be barred from participating in the next Olympics.
WADA's Executive Committee will make the final decision of whether or not to follow the panel's recommendation and strip RUSADA of the status of compliance during an emergency meeting on December 9.
