MOSCOW, March 11 (R-Sport) - The Russian government said Monday it will give the World Anti-Doping Agency extra funding with the express aim of gaining clout at the organization in the run-up to hosting next year’s Winter Olympics.
Russia will contribute an extra €300,000 ($390,000) a year to WADA, which carries out doping tests at the Olympics, and the government predicts this will mean more Russians monitoring doping offences at Sochi 2014.
“The payment of a voluntary additional contribution to the WADA budget will make it possible to strengthen the position of the Russian Federation in WADA, including the expansion of Russian representation in the management and working bodies of the aforementioned organization, taking into account the upcoming XXII Olympic Winter Games,” the Russian government said in a website statement.
The extra payment will take Russia’s funding for WADA to $1.1 million annually. It is financed by a corresponding cut in Russian contributions to the UNESCO Fund for the Elimination of Doping in Sport, which mostly finances anti-doping efforts in developing countries.
The past year has seen many high-profile doping cases involving Russian athletes.
London 2012 discus silver medalist Darya Pishchalnikova is provisionally suspended after testing positive for a banned substance, while track cyclist Viktoria Baranova was expelled from the games for taking artificial testosterone, which she confessed to.
Last week, two Russian athletes were caught doping following retests of samples from the 2005 world athletics championships. After the findings were announced, British long jumper Jade Johnson said she felt Russia's anti-doping record was so bad that the country was unfit to host the world championships in Moscow in August.
