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Russians face Olympic ban for doping athletes...
Russia slammed in doping report, faces possible Olympic ban
Nov 9,`15 -- Russia's status as a sports superpower and its participation in track and field events at next year's Olympics came under threat Monday after a report accused the Russians of widespread, state-supported doping reminiscent of the darkest days of cheating by the former East Germany.
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Bombshell report urges Russian ban over state-sanctioned doping
9 Nov.`15 - Russia's athletics federation should be suspended from all competition, including the 2016 Olympic Games, over widespread doping, a damning report by an independent commission of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said Monday.
Russia slammed in doping report, faces possible Olympic ban
Nov 9,`15 -- Russia's status as a sports superpower and its participation in track and field events at next year's Olympics came under threat Monday after a report accused the Russians of widespread, state-supported doping reminiscent of the darkest days of cheating by the former East Germany.
The findings by a commission set up by the World Anti-Doping Agency were far more damaging than expected. It means that two of the world's most popular sports - soccer and track and field - are now mired in scandals that could destroy their reputations. The WADA investigation's findings that Russian government officials must have known about doping and cover-ups, with even its intelligence service, the FSB, allegedly involved, threatened to severely tarnish President Vladimir Putin's use of sports to improve his country's global standing. Russia hosted the last Winter Olympics in Sochi in 2014 and will hold the next World Cup in 2018. "It's worse than we thought," said Dick Pound, an International Olympic Committee veteran who chaired the WADA probe. "It may be a residue of the old Soviet Union system."
Russia coach Alexey Melnikov embraces silver-medalist Olga Kaniskina after the 20-kilometers women's race walk at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. WADA's independent commission said Monday, Nov. 9, 2015 Russia's athletics federation should be suspended and its track and field athletes banned from competition until the country cleans up its act on doping.
The 323-page report said that in Russia, "acceptance of cheating at all levels is widespread." Among its findings:
- Moscow testing laboratory director Grigory Rodchenkov ordered the "intentional and malicious destruction" of 1,417 doping control samples to deny evidence for the investigation.
- FSB agents regularly visited the lab, routinely questioned its staff and told some of them not to cooperate with WADA as part of "direct intimidation and interference by the Russian state" with the lab's work. Staff at the lab believed their offices were bugged by the FSB.
- FSB agents even infiltrated Russia's anti-doping work at the Sochi Olympics. One witness told the inquiry that "in Sochi, we had some guys pretending to be engineers in the lab, but actually they were from the Federal Security Service."
- "Widespread inaction" by track and field's governing body, the International Association of Athletics Federations, and Russian authorities allowed athletes suspected of doping to continue competing. "The Olympic Games in London were, in a sense, sabotaged by the admission of athletes who should have not been competing," the report said.
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See also:
Bombshell report urges Russian ban over state-sanctioned doping
9 Nov.`15 - Russia's athletics federation should be suspended from all competition, including the 2016 Olympic Games, over widespread doping, a damning report by an independent commission of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said Monday.
The report outlined evidence of systematic cheating with the consent of the government in Moscow, noting that drug tests for athletes were conducted at a Russian lab which totally lacked credibility. "It's pretty disturbing," said former WADA chief Richard Pound, who headed the three-man commission, adding that the extent of the cheating was "worse than we thought". The panel's findings called for athletics' governing body (IAAF) to suspend Russia's athletics body (ARAF) and declare it "non-compliant" with globally agreed doping regulations.
IAAF President Sebastian Coe said he would give Russia until Friday to respond to the scathing report. "I want an explanation," Coe said on a conference call. "I am completely shocked by the allegations." "My instinct remains to encourage engagement not isolation, but the extent of what's being said, I need to seek (IAAF) council support to have them (ARAF) report back by the end of the week." The IAAF Council are due to meet Friday to discuss the crisis facing the Olympic's flagship sport.
The Russian sports ministry said in a statement late Monday that it was "not surprised by most of the points" made in the WADA commission report. "We are fully aware of the problems in the All-Russia Athletic Federation (ARAF) and we have undertaken measures to remedy the situation: there is a new president in ARAF, a new head coach, and they are currently rejuvenating the coaching staff," the statement read. "Russia has been and will continue to be fully committed to the fight against doping in sport."
- Olympics 'sabotaged' -