"The bipartisan legislation establishes criminal penalties on individuals involved in doping fraud conspiracies affecting major international competitions," the release said on Wednesday. "This bill is a long overdue step to deter and punish individuals and state actors who would attempt to defraud international competitions through doping."
The Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act, named for the former head of Russia’s national anti-doping laboratory Grigory Rodchenkov, would establish penalties including fines of up to $1,000,000, or imprisonment of up to ten years. The bill would also provide restitution to victims of doping fraud, protect whistleblowers under the existing witness and informant protection laws, and share information with the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), according to the text of the document.
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In 2015, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accused Russia of multiple doping violations and suspended the Moscow laboratory of RUSADA, the Russian National Anti-Doping Agency.
Russian officials have refuted the allegations of the state-run doping program, while admitting that Russian sports had some issues with doping abuse.