"This is a planned action": why the swimmers Andrusenko and Kudashev were suspended a week before the start of the Olympic Games in Tokyo

Information that the medalist of the World and European Championships in relay races Veronika Andrusenko and the winner of the gold medal of the Universiade-2019 Alexander Kudashev were temporarily suspended from all competitions on the basis of evidence provided by WADA and previously extracted from the database of the Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory, appeared on the official website of the International Federation swimming (FINA) on Wednesday night.

“FINA is grateful to WADA for its efforts to ensure clean competition at the Tokyo Olympics.

We signed the WADA Code, and therefore quickly and thoroughly processed the information obtained as a result of the work of the investigation department.

FINA remains fully committed to protecting clean athletes and promoting clean competition in Tokyo, ”said Federation President Hussein Al Musallam.

Swimmers may be excluded from the tournament on the basis of the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport "following the results of any past or future proceedings that remain in force during the specified competition."

However, according to TASS, the documents on Andrusenko and Kudashev have already been transferred to CAS.

Both retain their place in the preliminary OI start list.

Veronica entered the 4 x 200 m freestyle relay and entered the 200 m distance in a similar discipline.

In turn, Alexey was supposed to perform at a distance of 200 m butterfly.

According to the head coach of the Russian national team Sergei Chepik, it is too early to talk about any substitutions.

“Most of the team is now in Vladivostok and continues to prepare for the Olympic Games.

There is very little left to Tokyo.

It is too early to comment on the replacements, ”the TASS specialist quotes.

Andrusenko said that sanctions were imposed on her for violations committed in 2014 and 2015.

“I found out about it on the 13th.

I have always advocated clean sport and have never violated anti-doping rules.

I will continue to prepare for the Olympics, and I hope that my innocence will be proven, ”the R-Sport sportswoman quotes.

Kudashev also assured that he never took illegal drugs and always stood for "clean" sports.

“I have been taking doping tests for over ten years and have never been seen in anything.

The letter about my suspension came as a big surprise and shocked me.

I believe in a positive outcome, so I continue to prepare for the Olympics, ”the athlete emphasized.

However, they still have a chance to perform at the Tokyo Games.

President of the All-Russian Swimming Federation (VFT) Vladimir Salnikov assured that everything possible will be done to resolve the issue positively.

In particular, a team of "leading domestic and foreign sports lawyers" has been formed.

“The whole procedure is already underway - as soon as we have received information from FINA that a violation is possible and that it leads to a suspension ... Relations with all interested parties have been established.

We hope the issue will be resolved before the start of the Olympics, everything necessary is already being done, ”the functionary emphasized.

Also, the head of the federation explained in more detail exactly what violations are being charged against Andrusenko and Kudashev.

According to him, we are talking about "record inconsistencies in the LIMS system."

"This is not some fresh violation, this is a long history, and the charges of violation are related to the inconsistency of the data," TASS quoted him as saying.

Meanwhile, the Russian Olympic Committee issued an open letter to FINA, in which it demanded to explain why the proceedings against the swimmers were given a little more than a week before the start of the Olympic Games, when the teams' applications were fully formed.

The organization also intends to submit a corresponding request to the international federation.

"We can only guess what caused such a delay - negligence or planned actions to deprive the Russian Olympic Committee of the opportunity to fully use the won Olympic licenses, since after the deadline for submitting applications, the replacement of athletes in the final list is only possible for medical reasons," the statement says. ...

The ROC also recalled that after studying the database of the Moscow anti-doping laboratory, WADA publicly announced the formation of disciplinary cases against 298 Russian athletes back in April last year.

However, FINA announced the suspension only now.

In turn, the honorary president of the committee, Alexander Zhukov, called the situation "alarming" and supported the actions of the federation.

The Minister of Sports, Oleg Matytsin, spoke more mildly about the incident.

He also promised to do everything possible for Andrusenko and Kudashev to perform at the Olympic Games and called for "constructive communication" with FINA.

“We know that the head of the Russian Swimming Federation, Salnikov, is in contact with the newly elected President of the International Federation.

We hope that the issues will be resolved successfully, and our swimmers will take part in the Olympic Games, ”the minister assured.

In turn, the deputy and Olympic champion in speed skating Svetlana Zhurova called the suspension "a planned action."

In her opinion, it was possible to start the proceedings earlier, but this was not done.

“I am sure that this is a planned action ... They did everything after the selection: they would have removed them earlier, they would have forgotten long ago.

It turns out that by taking such a step on the eve of the Olympics, they do not give athletes a chance to go to court and defend the right to participate in competitions.

But, of course, you need to try: we remember the story with Yulia Efimova, when she had time.

We know that many athletes were challenged from those lists of the Moscow laboratory, so we need to try now, ”the Sport24 deputy quotes.

Her colleague and former world boxing champion Nikolai Valuev agreed with Zhurova.

“Why didn't they do it earlier? There is nothing to do with sports here. Unfortunately, our swimmers have very little time to appeal this decision in court, but they definitely need to try. It is unlikely, but we must try, "- said Valuev.