The Russian Investigative Committee stated on Saturday that it has obtained evidence showing that former head of Russia's national anti-doping laboratory and WADA informant Grigory Rodchenkov had modified doping probes data of Russian athletes.
"The committee carried out a computer forensic examination of the copies of the transferred [to WADA experts] electronic files, according to which, they [the files] were found authentic, as well as there were no manipulations of the initial file structure of the Russian athletes' test results," Petrenko said in a statement.
According to the statement, at the same time, the committee confirmed facts of remote access by the former leader of the laboratory in 2015-2016 to the LIMS data that contains information on the test results.
The committee also added that WADA had claimed on manipulations of data in the laboratory in 2018-2019, while everyone had access to it due to the anti-doping centre's permanent operation.
"All evidence obtained by the committee indicates that Rodchenkov and other unidentified people intentionally introduced changes to the data to manipulate parameters and indicators of doping samples of Russian athletes," the spokeswoman said.
According to the committee, foreign partners did not allow the Russian investigative body to examine LIMS data that contains information on the test results and was provided by Rodchenkov, as well as to question him on the matter.
On 9 December, WADA unanimously voted to ban Russia from participating in and hosting any major sporting events as punishment for what it said were serious manipulations and deletions of data in athlete test results under WADA investigation.
WADA also ruled that only "clean" Russian athletes would be allowed to compete under a neutral status, without the Russian flag or anthem, while Russian government officials and representatives would be banned from attending any major international sporting events. Additionally, WADA declared RUSADA non-compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code.
Commenting on the decision, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated that any punishment should be individual and that all Russian athletes should not be punished for the wrongdoings of some.
WADA Star Informant
Former head of Russia's national anti-doping laboratory Grigory Rodchenkov fled to the United States in 2016, where he became WADA's main witness in the case against the Russian national Olympic team over doping allegations.
The WADA informant, however, withdrew his testimony against Russian athletes during the Court of Arbitration for Sport hearings in April 2018.
