The news that the signature of the former head of the Moscow anti-doping laboratory Grigory Rodchenkov under testimony against biathletes Olga Zaitseva, Yana Romanova and Olga Vilukhina may turn out to be fake, caused an ambiguous reaction in Russia. Some experts expressed confidence that it will now be much easier for athletes to prove their case. Others called for no hasty conclusions.

According to the two-time Olympic champion Dmitry Vasiliev, the investigation of the German publication Der Spiegel, who made such a conclusion, should be taken seriously.

“Its results may become a reason for reviewing the whole story with Russian biathletes. It turns out that it is absolutely not as straightforward as Mr. Rodchenkov imagined. Moreover, this is not so at all. There are more and more factors that speak against the prosecution. Firstly, this is a forgery with a power of attorney, and secondly, this story. That is, a lot of contradictions arise. In this case, the athletes benefit, they are not so villains as they were represented by the head of the Moscow anti-doping laboratory and the so-called community of “fighters for pure sport,” Vasiliev said in an interview with RT.

At the same time, he added that it is still difficult to predict how the situation with signatures will affect the doping affairs of other Russian athletes, since in each of them many factors can play decisive roles.

“The findings of Der Spiegel experts will help CAS make the right decision for Zaitseva, Vilukhina and Romanova. Accumulating a lot of arguments against the team of Rodchenkov and WADA. Against the background of the general dirt that poured against the Russians, in particular, biathletes, it turns out that everything is not so simple. This is great. Still, there is hope that the athletes will be justified, ”concluded Vasiliev.

A similar opinion is shared by State Duma deputy Dmitry Svishchev. He suggested that the appearance of new details that cast doubt on Rodchenkov’s testimony is a planned action.

“Rodchenkov’s position is becoming increasingly miserable. He is already becoming useless to anyone. He needs to be courageous and come with recognition to the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation. And to give reliable testimonies about how everything really happened, with whom he was conspiring and whom he planted for doping. This will help the criminal “squander” his prison term, ”RIA Novosti quoted Svishchev as saying.

At the same time, Yuri Ganus, Director General of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA), refused specific comments regarding the Der Spiegel investigation. He noted that the court should make a fair decision, but emphasized that the problems of domestic sports are not limited to the situation around Zaitseva, Romanova and Vilukhina.

“I don’t know exactly what facts the institution of affairs is tied to. But we have a lot of questions that we need to answer for ourselves. I haven’t seen anything yet, but how many times has the information appeared that there is a fake signature, how did it end? All these conjectures or versions ... These fortunetellers and daisies have already gotten them. The question is different: what are we doing to exclude these issues? And what are we doing so that we never have this? ”, Quotes Sportus Ganus as saying.

Der Spiegel conducted a large-scale investigation involving experts who were able to prove the assumptions that the Russian side had back in March. Then, at a hearing in the case of three biathletes, their lawyer Alexei Panich said that the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which had initially acted as the prosecutor, used fake signatures of Rodchenkov. The fact is that it was his testimony that became the key factor in the conviction.

Then the IOC provided a new notarized letter from the head of the anti-doping laboratory, in which he allegedly confirmed the authenticity of his testimony, and also gave permission to use his electronic signatures.

However, a new forensic analysis showed that under a family of Rodchenkov’s nine testimonies are signatures made by another person’s hand. The other two letters contain their digital copies. Back in March, Panich stated that if the falsification of documents was proved, they would need to be removed from the case.

In 2017, at that time, Zaitsev, who completed her career, received a lifelong disqualification in connection with the charge of violating anti-doping rules. In her blood test, an increased salt content was recorded, and elements of male DNA were found in urine samples. In addition, zarapines were detected in two test tubes, which could indicate an illegal opening. In addition, Rodchenkov named her on the list of athletes who took illegal drugs during the Sochi Olympics. As a result, the biathlete was deprived of the silver of the Games won in the relay.

As for the suspicious urinalysis, Der Spiegel experts were able to find out that the DNA belongs to her husband. The athlete herself confirmed that at that time they were trying to conceive a child.

“Can you imagine what it is like to tell your husband that male DNA was found in your urine? This situation could ruin my family. It’s like you are accused of murder, although you didn’t do any harm to anyone at all, ”Der Spiegel quoted Zaitsev as saying.

In turn, Panich noted that the IOC has already agreed with this conclusion and does not make complaints about suspicious urine samples.

Following the conviction, Zaitsev, Vilukhin and Romanov appealed to the CAS. It is expected that a decision will be made in the near future.