Sun, Dec 29, 2019 page11

• Russia challenges doping ban from WADA

  • AFP, MOSCOW
  • • 
    • 
    • 

  Russia on Friday formally contested a four-year ban from major sporting events over doping violations that Russian President Vladimir Putin has condemned as “unjust,” the head of its RUSADA anti-doping agency said.

  “In accordance with established procedure, today we have sent a package of documents to the World Anti-Doping Agency,” RUSADA director-general Yury Ganus told reporters in Moscow. “The package contains a notice about disagreement with WADA sanctions.”

  However, Ganus, who has long argued for a major crackdown by Russia against doping cheats, warned that the legal challenge could backfire.

  

  Russian Anti-Doping Agency director-general Yury Ganus speaks at a news conference in Moscow on Friday.

  Photo: AFP

  The formal statement of disagreement with WADA will trigger an appeal process against the ban at the Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

  WADA on Friday confirmed in a statement that it had received the RUSADA package and would promptly refer the matter to the arbitration court, whose decision will be final and binding for all involved.

  Ganus, whose rigorous stance puts him at odds with his own government and supervisory board, has said that Moscow needs to accept the sanctions and own up to its faults to be able to reform.

  However, he said he was obliged to relay the position of the supervisory board.

  He said he also sent a letter to WADA informing it of his own stance.

  “I regret to inform you that all my attempts, including attempts to introduce changes to the RUSADA notice, have failed,” he wrote.

  Ganus on Thursday told reporters that “it is practically impossible” to contest the ban.

  WADA this month banned Russia for four years from major global events, including next year’s Tokyo Olympics and the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, over manipulated doping data.

  Under the sanctions, Russians are still allowed to compete, but only as neutrals and if they can demonstrate that they were not part of what WADA says was a state-sponsored system of doping.

  Putin has called the sanctions politically motivated, indicating that a lengthy legal battle could unfold.

  He said that the majority of Russian athletes were clean and should not be deprived of the right to compete under the Russian flag due to the actions of some individuals.

  Ganus warned that contesting the ban could make matters worse, because CAS could make sanctions against Russia more severe.

  “We are creating a platform for it. We ... are creating risks,” he said.

  “First of all, it would be a public hearing,” he said, adding that some officials could request that the arbitration court toughen rather than soften the punishment against Russia.

  He referred to the position of US Anti-Doping Agency chief Travis Tygart, who has called for a blanket ban on Russian athletes at the Tokyo Olympics.

  Tygart said that allowing “neutral” Russian athletes to compete at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in 2016 and the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea last year had been ineffective.

  “WADA must get tougher and impose the full restriction on Russian athlete participation in the Olympics that the rules allow,” Tygart said last month.
• Most Popular

  • 1

    Taiwanese lose status after obtaining single-use Chinese passport

  • 2

    KMT chair to meet with Xi, but at a price: source

  • 3

    Deterring Taiwan conflict a priority: US

  • 4

    Taiwanese tourists go viral in video during Japan quake

  • 5

    US vows deterrence ‘through strength’