Sun, Sep 23, 2018 page11

• WADA compromised: anti-doping group

  • AP
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  A leading anti-doping group on Friday hinted at changing the structure of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), saying that its decision to reinstate the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) is a sign that WADA leaders are saddled with “conflicting priorities.”

  The Institute of National Anti-Doping Organizations said in a statement that members of the WADA executive committee had pressures surrounding the decision that went beyond doping.

  The committee on Thursday voted 9-2 to end RUSADA’s suspension after weakening the standards originally agreed upon for reinstatement. WADA receives half of its funding from international sports federations and the other half from governments.

  The committee is headed by Craig Reedie, whose status as a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has long been viewed by people in the anti-doping community as a conflict of interest.

  The other spots on the committee are divided among sports and government leaders.

  Norwegian Minister for Children and Equality Linda Helleland, who is in the running to replace Reedie as WADA president next year, was among those who voted “no” and after the vote said: “Today, we failed the clean athletes of the world.”

  The institute said that WADA “surrendered to pressure from the IOC and the Russian government to substantially weaken the terms of the road map [for reinstatement].”

  “This is not good governance, nor does it reflect a good governance model,” the statement said. “WADA must be an effective and resolute global anti-doping regulator and governor — exclusively.”

  The comments from the body that represents 67 anti-doping agencies from around the world largely echoed what US Anti-Doping Agency CEO Travis Tygart said in the hours following the decision, when he called for WADA to be revamped.

  “It starts by removing the inherent conflict of interest that comes about from the IOC fox guarding the WADA henhouse,” Tygart said.

  Also on Friday, British Athletes Commission chair Victoria Aggar said: “The work of rebooting WADA starts today.”

  “Athletes have made it clear in recent days that the global anti-doping authority must stretch itself loose from the International Olympic Committee if it is to thrive,” Aggar said. “It must keep at arms’ length from sports administrators if it is to rebuild.”

  Before the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics, WADA had recommended against the IOC allowing Russian athletes to participate in the wake of the McLaren report, which documented a state-sponsored doping scheme designed to help win medals at the 2014 Sochi Winter Games.

  The IOC ignored that recommendation and allowed Russian athletes to participate in Rio.

  After that decision, Reedie issued a statement saying: “The McLaren report exposed, beyond a reasonable doubt, a state-run doping program in Russia that seriously undermines the principles of clean sport embodied within the World Anti-Doping Code.”

  It was a rare rebuke of the IOC by one of its own members, and one that Reedie has not repeated since.

  Among the conditions WADA had originally set for RUSADA’s reinstatement was that Russia accept the findings of the McLaren report. That was changed to a requirement that Russia accept the IOC’s Schmid report, which put less emphasis on the Russian government’s role in the cheating.

  The decision cost WADA any leverage it had over Russia, Canadian law professor Richard McLaren, author of the eponymous report, told reporters.

  “They have been rushed into a decision which they may regret given the outbursts of the athletes around the world,” McLaren said.

  The other change in the road map gives Russia until Dec. 31 to turn over lab samples and data, instead of demanding possession before reinstatement.
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