(ATR) The World Anti-Doping Agency says the dismissal of Yuri Ganus as the director general of the Russia Anti-Doping Agency and the resignations of two other RUSADA members "reinforce the concerns" it has about RUSADA’s "operational independence".
The RUSADA Foundation Board voted on Friday to oust Ganus following an audit ordered by RUSADA's founders, the Russian Olympic Committee and the Russian Paralympic Committee, that uncovered serious financial and economic violations at RUSADA in 2018 and 2019.
Ganus, who has led RUSADA since August 2017, denies the allegations and says they are part of a campaign to discredit him.
RUSADA’s deputy director general Margarita Pakhnotskaya and the independent international expert member of RUSADA’s Supervisory Board Sergey Khrychikov have resigned. Pakhnotskaya quit on Thursday, telling TASS "I do not like the current situation and, yes, I have resigned voluntarily as I see no sense in continuing."
Mikhail Bukhanov, a lawyer with RUSADA, will replace Ganus as acting director general until a new election can be arranged.
WADA said in a statement that it is in contact with RUSADA and other relevant Russian authorities to get further clarifications on the latest developments.
WADA in December made it a condition of RUSADA’s reinstatement that it remains satisfied that RUSADA’s independence is being respected and there is no improper outside interference with its operations.
Russia has gone to the Court of Arbitration for Sport over the sanctions imposed on it by WADA in December for manipulating and falsifying doping data from RUSADA’s Moscow laboratory. The appeal is scheduled to be heard from November 2-5, 2020.
RUSADA is appealing penalties that include a four-year ban on Russian athletes participating under their flag at major international competitions, including the next two Olympics.
Russian athletes who can prove to WADA’s satisfaction that they are clean will be eligible to compete as independent athletes under a neutral flag as was the case at PyeongChang 2018.
RUSADA was previously suspended for what has been determined as a vast state-supported doping system revealed in a 2015 WADA-commissioned report. Russia was reinstated by WADA in September 2018 with one of the conditions being full disclosure of doping data from the Moscow lab.
Written by Gerard Farek
For general comments or questions,click here.
Your best source of news about the Olympics is AroundTheRings.com, for subscribers only.
Últimas Noticias
Utah’s Olympic venues an integral part of the equation as Salt Lake City seeks a Winter Games encore
Utah Olympic Legacy Foundation chief of sport development Luke Bodensteiner says there is a “real urgency to make this happen in 2030”. He discusses the mission of the non-profit organization, the legacy from the 2002 Winter Games and future ambitions.
IOC president tells Olympic Movement “we will again have safe and secure Olympic Games” in Beijing
Thomas Bach, in an open letter on Friday, also thanked stakeholders for their “unprecedented” efforts to make Tokyo 2020 a success despite the pandemic.
Boxing’s place in the Olympics remains in peril as IOC still unhappy with the state of AIBA’s reform efforts
The IOC says issues concerning governance, finance, and refereeing and judging must be sorted out to its satisfaction. AIBA says it’s confident that will happen and the federation will be reinstated.
IOC president details Olympic community efforts to get Afghans out of danger after Taliban return to power
Thomas Bach says the Afghanistan NOC remains under IOC recognition, noting that the current leadership was democratically elected in 2019. But he says the IOC will be monitoring what happens in the future. The story had been revealed on August 31 in an article by Miguel Hernandez in Around the Rings
North Korea suspended by IOC for failing to participate in Tokyo though its athletes could still take part in Beijing 2022
Playbooks for Beijing 2022 will ”most likely” be released in October, according to IOC President Thomas Bach.
