The commission behind the report has recommended lifetime bans for five Russian middle-distance runners – including gold and bronze-medal winners in the 2012 Olympics 800m – and five Russian coaches and administrators.
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The Commission made a series of recommendations for WADA, in addition to recommendations for other organizations including: the WADA-accredited Moscow Laboratory; the Russian National Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA); the All-Russian Athletics Federation (ARAF); and the Russian Ministry of Sport.
Led by Canadian lawyer Dick Pound, the WADA-commissioned independent panel found that Russian officials, coaches and athletes conspired on systematic doping, including the manipulation of test results.
The 325-page WADA report found that “Moscow testing laboratory director Grigory Rodchenkov ordered 1,417 doping control samples destroyed to deny evidence for the inquiry”, according to the AP.
The WADA commission said the worldwide Olympic Committee should not accept any entries from the Russian athletics federation until the body has been declared complaint with WADA’s doping code and a suspension has been lifted.
Pound, who headed a three-man commission, told journalists that given the extent of the cheating among Russian track athletes, the doping was state-supported and “could not have happened” without tacit approval of authorities in Moscow. We need time to properly digest and understand the detailed findings included in the report. “Secondly, it is only a recommendation…But I can not say if the IAAF will follow this recommendation”.
Pound agreed with the suggestion that the Russian situation amounted to “state-sponsored doping” but Coe declined to compare it with the Stasi-backed regime that turned East Germany into a sporting superpower in the 1970s and 80s.
His son Papa Massata Diack, advisor Habib Cisse and the former IAAF anti-doping chief Gabriel Dolle are also being investigated by French police.
In a statement the IAAF said it would be convening a council “to decide whether to proceed with a potential sanctions’ process against a Member Federation”.
The independent commission of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) on Monday recommended banning Russian Federation from the sport as a result of systemic failures that “prevented or diminished the possibility of an effective anti-doping programme”. The Russian government was specifically accused of being involved in the doping program.
The findings by a commission set up by the World Anti-Doping Agency were far more damaging than expected.
“This step has not been taken lightly”, he added.
In another development, former IAAF president Lamine Diack should have his honorary membership of the global Olympic Committee (IOC) suspended in the wake of his arrest on corruption charges, the IOC said on Monday.
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“The evidence released demonstrates a shocking level of corruption, and sends a clear message to Russian Federation that they will not be allowed to cheat the world’s athletes and escape justice behind a wall of deception and lies”.
