USA demands that World Anti-Doping Agency ban Russia from taking part in competitions
The US Anti-Doping Agency called for the exclusion of Russian athletes from competitions because of the delays in providing access to the Moscow anti-doping laboratory data, Radio Svoboda reports.
As reported by ESPN, the CEO of the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), Travis Tygart believes that they should stop being led on by Russia. In late December, a group of experts from WADA received access to the Moscow anti-doping laboratory but Russian officials prevented WADA from extracting the data and transport it out of Russia. Russian authorities demanded that experts use the equipment certified in Russia for extracting data.
Within three months, WADA experts were only allowed to examine doping tests of Russian athletes. Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) Chief Yury Ganus accused “certain individuals” of impeding an investigation of the World Anti-Doping Agency.
In September 2018, WADA restored RUSADA’s membership after a nearly-three-year disqualification caused by the scandal over the alleged doping program in Russia. RUSADA, however, must meet certain conditions, one of which is WADA's free access to the Moscow Anti-Doping laboratory and its information system and doping-tests from 2015.