Moscow (AFP)
The Russian anti-doping agency Rusada announced Friday that it had sent its formal letter contesting the exclusion of Russia from world sports competitions for having falsified an anti-doping database.
"A set of documents has been sent to the World Anti-Doping Agency. Among them is the notification of the disagreement with the sanctions," Rusada director general Iouri Ganous told reporters.
In accordance with the procedure, WADA must now refer the matter to the Arbitration Tribunal for Sport (CAS).
Mr. Ganous signed this letter after a decision by the governing bodies of the Rusada, that is to say its supervisory board and its founders, the Russian Olympic and Paralympic committees.
However, he himself is opposed to this challenge and he indicated that he had sent a second letter on his behalf to WADA expressing his personal position.
"I regret to inform you that I failed in my efforts to change my mind (the decision-making bodies of the Rusada) regarding this notification," he said, reading his letter to the WADA.
For weeks, the head of the Rusada has publicly judged the Russian authorities guilty in this scandal, demanding from President Vladimir Putin a big sweep so that a merciless fight against cheaters is engaged.
He also said that any challenge to WADA's sanctions would be "ineffective and unnecessary."
WADA decided on December 9 to ban Russia from participating in major international events for four years, including the 2020 and 2022 Olympic Games and the 2022 Soccer World Cup.
If the sanctions are so heavy, it is because the AMA estimated that Russia had "manipulated" the data of the anti-doping laboratory of Moscow having been transmitted to him at the beginning of year, an umpteenth twist in a scandal which started with the revelation in 2015 of institutional doping practiced since 2011 and involving senior officials, secret agents and trafficked urine vials.
© 2019 AFP