MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has called on Monday for the full support of Russia's authorities in tackling the country's doping issues.
"At a time when trust in sport is wafer thin, these troubling assertions will do little to reinforce confidence in the Russian anti-doping system when clean athletes need it most…The allegations suggest that there is still much, much work to be done in Russia; and, that we will need the full and unwavering cooperation of the Russian authorities to reverse the damage," WADA President, Craig Reedie, said in a press release.
WADA's statement comes following Sunday's release of the third part of a German documentary on the use of doping in Russian sports. In 2014, the German ARD television broadcaster aired a film titled "Top-secret Doping: How Russia makes its Winners". The documentary claimed that 80 percent of Russian Olympic champions have used performance enhancing drugs, accusing Russia's anti-doping agency RUSADA of covering up positive drug test results. The film interviewed former Russian athletes previously disqualified by RUSADA for using banned substances.
The allegations have been picked up by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) as well as Russia's sports authorities, Reedie said, stressing that swift action is necessary for maintaining the credibility of global sport.
In November 2015, WADA presented a report accusing Russia of numerous breaches of global anti-doping regulations and recommended the country be banned from international athletics competitions. After the first two documentaries on alleged doping abuse and corruption in Russian sport, the IAAF provisionally suspended the All-Russian Athletic Federation's (ARAF) membership of the association.
