“Provocative stuffing”: British media reported on the possible removal of Russia from the World Cup in Qatar

“Total restrictions” for Russia

Information that the Russian national team may not be allowed to the World Cup 2022 in Qatar, as well as the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, appeared on the pages of The Telegraph. According to British journalists, WADA may impose serious sanctions on Russia if it fails to explain the reasons for the mismatch of samples in the Moscow laboratory database.

According to the publication, in the case of a decision of the Sports Court of Arbitration that is negative for the country, Russian athletes may be under “total restrictions” on the part of all international federations that signed under the WADA code.

Thus, members of the national team may not be allowed to participate in the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo and the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. However, it is not specified whether it is a question of the complete or partial removal of Russia from participation in the Games.

Recall that at the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang the team “Olympic Athletes from Russia” performed, and in Rio 2016 the Russian team was allowed to perform under the tricolor, but not in full force.

At the same time, the publication refers to the example of the All-Russian Athletics Federation, which on the eve of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) refused to restore.

“There are no complaints from FIFA”

However, the Russian Football Union assured that they have no complaints from higher authorities.

“As we understand it, questions have now arisen for the anti-doping structures operating in Russia. There are no claims to the RFU from FIFA, UEFA and WADA. We hope that Russian sport will be presented at international competitions without any restrictions, ”the Championship Director quotes the Director of Communications of the RFU Kirill Melnikov.

In turn, the honorary president of the RFU, Vyacheslav Koloskov, completely called the information that appeared “stuffing.”

“This is some kind of provocative stuffing. Football has its own doping service, which has nothing to do with WADA. Of course, they are collaborating. But they have their own service and their own doping officers. WADA in this case is not a decree. The decision to remove is made by FIFA. Infantino repeatedly emphasized that in football there are no problems with doping. We have 0.02% positive doping tests. And then they are usually associated with marijuana and other nonsense. Therefore, I propose to close the topic. This is clearly someone’s incomprehensible stuffing, ”- quotes Koloskov’s words“ Sport day after day. ”

The State Duma also asked not to “escalate the situation” and not to rush to conclusions, recalling that Russia still has time to explain the discrepancy in the database of the Moscow laboratory.

“We understand that this is another manifestation of clean politics and another attempt to put pressure on Russia to force us to make this or that political decision. We live in a world that you need to get used to resist. Let's wait for the official results of the investigation, then we will either call to punish the guilty, or to triumph that the truth is on our side, ”said deputy Igor Lebedev.

He noted that Russia's participation in international competitions enhances the image of Russia, which proved the holding of the World Cup in 2018.

“See how the attitude towards Russia began to change after the World Cup, which, despite all the sanctions and problems in relations, the leaders of almost all the countries that participated in the championship came. They came to cheer for their country, and, therefore, to participate in the political life of Russia. All this enhances not only the sports image of our state, but also adds political points to our piggy bank. This cannot but rejoice, ”Lebedev added.

The day before, the head of the WADA Compliance Committee, Jonathan Taylor, announced serious discrepancies in the Moscow laboratory database, which was transferred to the committee. He said that positive samples were previously removed from it. At the same time, Russia was given three weeks to explain.

“The Executive Committee was informed that the investigation of inconsistencies in the data of the Moscow laboratory led to the official opening of the case against RUSADA on September 17, 2019,” he said.

The OCD called the situation very serious.

“Judging by the fact that, based on the report of the Compliance Committee by the Executive Committee, WADA has already initiated consideration of the issue of RUSADA status under the accelerated procedure, the situation is very serious. For a short period of three weeks, our organizations responsible for the procedure for transferring the database must either conclusively refute suspicions of any manipulations from the Russian side, or take comprehensive measures to identify the persons involved in this story, ”Stanislav Pozdnyakov quoted the head of the committee OCD official website.

Cheryshev's “doping” and strange requirements for FIFA

However, The Telegraph is not the first to predict a sad future for Russian sport. For example, immediately after the World Cup in Russia, the publication wrote that the midfielder of the national team Denis Cheryshev allegedly used doping. As a result, the information was not confirmed.

“This is a story about the treatment of a football player by the club doctors of Villarreal with platelet-rich plasma (PRP-therapy. - RT ), which does not apply to prohibited substances. The journalist who interviewed Dmitry Cheryshev, the footballer’s father, incorrectly interpreted his words and called it “treatment using growth hormones,” which fundamentally distorts the essence of what was said, ”the RFU said.

The publication also demanded that FIFA provide doping test data for Russian football players in connection with their successful performance. At the International Football Federation, the appeal of British journalists was left unanswered.