Russian athletics chief says WADA has no right to suspend federation

The top Russian athletics official says the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is in no position to suspend the Russian federation after the anti-doping agency in a report called for the country be banned from global athletics competitions.

Vadim Zelichenok, the acting head of the Russian Athletics Federation (VFLA), told Reuters on Monday that the report by WADA, which urged that the Russian Athletics Federation be banned from the sport over alleged doping offenses, "is only a recommendation." 

Only the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) could make a decision about suspending the VFLA, said Zelichenok.

WADA report

The 325-page WADA report was published on Monday, 11 months after the German broadcaster ARD aired a documentary in December in which it accused Moscow of funding a doping program for its athletes.

The documentary led to an investigation into the issue by a three-member panel chaired by Dick Pound, the former WADA president.

The WADA report claims there has been systemic cheating and cover-ups, both within Russian athletics and the IAAF governing body.

WADA has advised the British head of the IAAF, Sebastian Coe, to suspend Russia from competing in track and field events due to the alleged state-funded systematic doping scheme in the country.

WADA also recommended that five Russian athletes and five coaches be banned for life for doping offenses.

It further recommended that the anti-doping laboratory in Moscow should be stripped of its accreditation.

The WADA commission claimed Russian track and field athletes were using an obscure laboratory to pre-screen their doping samples and ditch the ones that tested positive.

The report claimed whistleblowers and confidential witnesses "corroborated that this second laboratory is involved in the destruction and the cover-up of what would otherwise be positive doping tests."

The report says the laboratory used for pre-screening the samples is controlled by the Moscow city government and operates in an industrial zone about 10 kilometers (6 miles) outside the city center.

This laboratory "could be used as a first step to identify test samples of Russian athletes who have suspicious or positive urine samples" and that "pre-screened samples that were not positive could then be sent to the accredited laboratory," also in Moscow.

The panel claims the Russian anti-doping agency and Russian Athletics federation must have known about the procedure.

The commission also has accused the IAAF of playing a role in the doping scheme.

The report said that the London Games have been marred because Russia's anti-doping governing body and IAAF had not taken doping seriously and allowed athletes who did not qualify to compete in the games.

Five Russian runners - including the gold and bronze-medal winners at 800 meters at the London Olympics, Mariya Savinova and Ekaterina Poistogova respectively - have been identified for lifetime bans by WADA.

Media reports say the 11-month probe has not found any strong evidence of Moscow’s involvement in the alleged doping scheme.

Meanwhile, the international police body, Interpol, said on Monday it will coordinate a worldwide investigation led by France into alleged doping and corruption in athletics.

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