"Nationalist statement": in the State Duma and RUSADA answered the call of the Ukrainian official to excommunicate Russia from sports

“We can sue”

The situation around the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) once again escalated after a special commission of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) found inconsistencies in the data of the Moscow laboratory. Oil was added to the fire by a newly made member of the board of founders of the organization, ex-Minister of Youth and Sports of Ukraine Igor Zhdanov, who promised to do everything possible so that the Russian side would be excommunicated from world sports.

In Russia, the official’s words caused not only surprise. The fact is that, in accordance with the WADA code, the constituent council does not participate in the fate of national anti-doping organizations. Its functions include amending the documents of the agency, appointing an executive committee and a control and audit body.

The fact that the Russian side should not be afraid of the deterioration of the situation in connection with the election of Zhdanov, assured the Deputy Director General of RUSADA Margarita Pakhnotskaya.

“The Board of Founders is not empowered to make decisions on the status of national anti-doping agencies. Only the WADA executive committee has this right, which makes a decision on the basis of the recommendation of the compliance committee, ”Takhnitskaya quotes TASS.

On September 11, Zhdanov joined the WADA Board of Founders by voting, one vote ahead of Turkish Minister of Youth and Sports Mehmet Muharrem Kasapoglu. The Turkish side tried to challenge the election results, but the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe approved the candidacy of the Ukrainian. It is worth noting that he became the first representative of his country in a global agency.

Zhdanov immediately announced his goals in his new position. These included the intention to influence the situation around RUSADA.

“I will fight for the rights of pure athletes, for a fair treatment for all countries, for increasing responsibility for doping, for continuing excommunication from world sports in Russia, which at the state level forces athletes to use prohibited substances and replaces their samples,” wrote the former minister sports on Facebook.

Commenting on the situation, the head of RUSADA Yuri Ganus emphasized that such statements on an ongoing basis come from many supporters of the removal of Russia.

“This reaction comes not only from the Minister of Sports of Ukraine, it comes from other people as well. But it is expressed by the emotional perception of what is happening, ”the RBC official quotes.

More sharply to statements Zhdanov reacted in the State Duma. According to the chairman of the committee on physical education, sports, tourism and youth affairs Mikhail Degtyarev, the opinion of the Ukrainian official is subjective.

“We believe that sport should be out of politics. And a new member of the WADA founders' council would like to first of all solve the issue of protecting the interests of Ukrainian athletes and millions of fans, who are being deprived of the opportunity to take part in major sporting events in Russia by the fault of the Kiev authorities, ”the official said.

In March 2018, Zhdanov signed a decree banning Ukrainian athletes from participating in competitions and training camps in Russia. In April, he was replaced by another law. Athletes have the right to be on the territory of the state, while taking all the costs, ensuring safety and responsibility for the possible consequences. The state will not participate in this process.

As a result, the national team was forced to miss a number of major international competitions, including the winter Universiade in Krasnoyarsk, as well as the men's and women's boxing world championships, held in Yekaterinburg and Ulan-Ude, respectively.

In addition, Zhdanov repeatedly criticized Ukrainian athletes who decided to violate the ban.

Dmitry Svishchev, a member of the State Duma committee on physical education, sports, tourism and youth affairs, remained in solidarity with Degtyarev. He urged WADA members to pay attention to Zhdanov’s statement.

“Let him decide - he does this to fight for“ pure ”athletes or against Russia. This is a nationalistic statement, because the agency has not yet announced its decisions, officials are now very restrained. And we can sue Zhdanov if he speaks like that. This is unethical, ”RIA Novosti quoted Svishchev as saying.

“Doping has no nationality”

In September 2018, RUSADA was reinstated after three years of disqualification. The only condition that still needed to be fulfilled was to provide data from the Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory. In April 2019, the process of processing materials and their transfer to international federations began.

However, in September, Russia was suspected of manipulating data, and a procedure was launched to strip RUSADA of compliance status. At the same time, a number of British media reported serious consequences that the country could face in case of proof of guilt. These include being barred from participating in the 2020 Olympics. In early October, the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation provided an explanation for the discrepancies.

A key meeting on this issue with the participation of representatives of the Russian side was scheduled for October 23. However, it did not take place due to the fact that the compliance commission did not manage to examine the submitted answers to the allegations.

At the same time, the future head of WADA Vitold Banka, preparing to take office in early November, assured that all decisions regarding Russia will be objective.

“If there is strong evidence against a particular country, difficult decisions must be made. So it will be with all athletes, regardless of whether they are from Russia, the USA or Poland. Those caught doping need to be severely punished. Doping has no nationality, ”said Banca in an interview with Przeglad Sportowy.