Russian athletics should be suspended from all competition, including the 2016 Olympic Games, a damning report by World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) independent commission into widespread doping and corruption urged on Monday.
The report outlined evidence of systematic cheating, with the awareness and consent of the authorities in Moscow, noting that drug tests for athletes were conducted at a Russian lab which lacked total credibility.
The commission, headed by former WADA chief Richard Pound “has recommended that the (International Athletics Federation) suspend ARAF (Russian athletics federation),” said the report set up to investigate the scandal that has rocked athletics, the flagship sport of the Olympics.
WADA also called for five Russian athletes — including 800m Olympic winner Mariya Savinova — to be given lifetime bans, suggesting the presence of doped athletes had “sabotaged” the 2012 Games in London.
The report, which said “systematic doping” extended beyond Russia and athletics, also wants to see Moscow’s anti-doping laboratory stripped of its accreditation and its director fired.
Pound, who headed a three-man commission, told journalists that given the extent of the cheating among Russian track athletes, the doping was state-supported and “could not have happened” without tacit approval of authorities in Moscow.
IAAF president Sebastien Coe, giving his first reaction in London, said the report’s conclusions were “alarming” but he had begun the process “of considering sanctions against ARAF” (Russian Athletics federation).
“We need time to properly digest and understand the detailed findings included in the report,” Coe said in a statement.
“However, I have urged the Council to start the process of considering sanctions against ARAF.”
The crisis in athletics first erupted with allegations of doping aired in a German TV documentary in December 2014.
Pound said that “overwhelming portions” of the programme had been proven accurate.
– Commission lacks authority –
In a first reaction, Russia’s sports minister Vitali Mutko said that the WADA commission cannot take the decision to suspend Russia from competition.
“There is no need to get confused, the commission does not have the right to suspend anyone,” Mutko told RIA Novosti news agency, saying Russian authorities would release a fuller statement later.
When asked about possible next steps from Russian officials, Pound suggested that the rot within the country’s track programme was so severe, he hoped that Moscow would “volunteer” to remove its athletes from the Rio games.
Britain’s Sunday Times and the ARD channel also obtained a database belonging to the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) which contained more than 12,000 blood tests taken from around 5,000 athletes between 2001 to 2012.
The affair took a dramatic twist last week when former IAAF chief Lamine Diack was charged with corruption on suspicion of taking bribes to cover up doping cases.
The 82-year-old Senegalese was also charged with money laundering and conspiracy. His legal advisor Habib Cisse and former IAAF anti-doping doctor were charged with corruption.
As global police body Interpol announced it was launching an investigation into the affair Monday’s dramatic WADA findings gave athletics’ governing body the IAAF and its new president Sebastien Coe plenty of food for thought just 270 days before the Rio Olympics.
Contrary to some expectations, Pound’s report did not address allegations of IAAF officials receiving bribes to cover up positive tests for athletes, including potential medal winners from past Olympic games.
Pound made clear, however, that today’s release included only the first part of the commission’s findings focused largely on Russian athletics.
Further evidence of misconduct, including possibly among “rogue” individuals within the IAAF, is expected by the end of the year, Pound said.