President Vladimir Putin says that while Russian Federation disapproves of the hack of medical files of Olympic athletes, their findings should attract public attention.
Advertisement
“We do not support what the hackers do, but what they did can not but be of interest to the worldwide community, and most of all to the sports community”, Putin said at a regional leaders summit in Central Asian Kyrgyzstan, Russian news agencies reported.
On Tuesday, Wada announced that the Russian cyber-espionage group Tsar Team (APT28), also known as Fancy Bears, had broken into its Anti-Doping Administration and Management System (Adams) database. The latest leaks implicates a further 11 athletes from Germany, Britain and Spain, among others.
Froome and Wiggins defended their use of therapeutic use exemptions (TUEs).
The hacking group, known as APT28 and Fancy Bear by United States cyber-security researchers, was also blamed by WADA on Tuesday for posting medical data about USA athletes Simone Biles, Elena Delle Donne, and Serena and Venus Williams.
The athletes, from five different countries, had permission from sports or anti-doping bodies to use medications that would otherwise be banned for use in competition. On Friday, IOC President Thomas Bach called the leak “an unacceptable and outrageous breach of medical confidentiality that attempts to smear innocent athletes who have not committed any doping offence”.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) promised to help WADA communicate with Russian authorities over the data hack.
Bach has been seen as an ally of Russian Federation since being elected in 2013, and opposed an outright ban on its athletes from Rio. Niggli said the hack on WADA’s computer system constituted “retaliation” against the agency, which imposed heavy penalties against Russian Federation over doping, including banning practically its entire athletics team from the Rio Olympics.
Advertisement
Russian government spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was “out of the question” that the Kremlin or secret services were involved in the hacking.
