This archive report was first published on 6 December 2019.
December 6, 2019, marked a critical day for Russian sports as the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) executive committee convened in Lausanne to decide on a four-year ban for the country.
WADA's decision comes after a 2015 report found evidence of mass doping in Russian athletics, leading to a series of doping scandals and sanctions.
Many Russian athletes have been sidelined from the past two Olympics, and the country was stripped of its flag at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games due to state-sponsored doping cover-ups at the 2014 Sochi Games.
According to WADA, Russia's doping woes have snowballed since 2015, with the country's sports minister, Pavel Kolobkov, attributing discrepancies in laboratory data to technical issues.
However, international sports bodies and officials have heavily criticized Russia, alleging that the country has once again violated the ethos of sport.
Yuri Ganus, the head of Russian anti-doping agency RUSADA, has been a vocal critic of Russia's doping culture, stating that the problem lies within the country's sporting authorities.
“The problem is that we have four years ahead of us and for now, judging by the reaction of the current sports authorities, I don’t see any prospect of resolving these issues,” Ganus told Reuters.
RUSADA is set to be stripped of its accreditation for the second time in four years as part of the same doping sanctions.
Ganus emphasized the need for serious reform in Russia's sports administration, calling for President Vladimir Putin to take action.
