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Russian Athletes Again Face Possible Olympic Ban After WADA Panel Ruling

By RFE/RL November 22, 2019

Russia is again facing an Olympic ban after a key World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) committee recommended that Russia's anti-doping agency be declared noncompliant.

WADA on November 22 said its Compliance Review Committee (CRC) has sent a recommendation that the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) once again be suspended when the global anti-doping watchdog's executive committee meets on December 9 in Paris.

If ruled noncompliant by the executive committee, Russia could be excluded from next year's Summer Olympics in Tokyo, along with facing other sanctions.

Under rules set in place following the Russian doping scandal that marred the Sochi Olympics in 2014, the Russians could appeal any penalty to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is required to abide by the decisions from WADA or the court – although IOC President Thomas Bach said this week he was not in favor of a total ban.

Rules state that in the case of a "critical" violation by a country, "The athletes...representing that country...will be excluded from participation in or attendance at the Olympic Games...for the next edition of that event, or until reinstatement (whichever is longer)."

At the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games in South Korea, Russia was barred from competing as a country, but the IOC permitted nearly 170 Russian athletes to participate as independents, and it remains possible a similar arrangement could be made for the Tokyo Olympics, which begin July 24.

The world watchdog in September reopened compliance proceedings after it said it found inconsistencies in the massive bank of historical testing data finally handed over in January.

Earlier on November 22, the World Athletics Council (WAC) said it was putting on hold the read-mission process of the Russian Athletics Federation (RUSAF) a day after several top RUSAF officials were suspended.

The WAC, formerly known as the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), is the world governing body for track and field athletes, cross country running, and other related events.

Rune Andersen, chairman of the World Athletics task force overseeing RUSAF's reinstatement, made the announcement following a meeting in Monaco.

RUSAF was banned from international competitions in November 2015 after a state-sponsored doping scandal came to light, although some athletes under certain conditions have been allowed to compete in some events as neutrals.

The WAC decision comes a day after RUSAF president Dmitry Shlyakhtin and several other officials were suspended by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) for serious breaches of antidoping rules, adding to the federation's woes ahead of next year's Olympics.

The AIU, which oversees integrity issues in global athletics including doping, said the provisional suspensions were linked to an investigation into whereabouts violations committed by Russian high jumper Danil Lysenko, which they said the officials had obstructed.

It said the suspensions of seven people including Shlyakhtin, executive director Alexander Parkin, Lysenko and his coach Yevgeny Zagorulko came after it concluded federation officials "had been involved in the provision of false explanations and forged documents to the AIU in order to explain whereabouts failures by the athlete."

World Athletics President Sebastian Coe said the group was considering stripping Russia's membership, adding that "we need to deal with renegade factions like this."

With reporting by AP, AFP, Reuters, and dpa

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/russia- athletes-olympic-ban-doping- wada-rusada/30287365.html

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Russian Athletes Again Face Possible Olympic Ban After WADA Panel Ruling