Russia at a crossroads over doping scandal: WADA's Niggli

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Critics of the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) decision to reinstate Russia should focus on whether they will deliver on the final steps that will lead to full rehabilitation, said the organization's director general Olivier Niggli in a recent interview.

WADA has been assailed from all sides - administrators, national doping agencies, athletes and Niggli's predecessor David Howman - since its decision to lift the ban on Russia's anti-doping agency (RUSADA) on September 20.

The decision paves the way for Russian athletes to return to competition across all sports.

RUSADA was initially suspended by WADA in 2016 after an independent report by Professor Richard McLaren found that more than 1,000 Russian athletes across more than 30 sports were aided by state‑sponsored doping.

RUSADA is Russia's anti-doping agency. /VCG Photo

The Russians now have until December 31 -- a deadline imposed by WADA -- to grant an independent panel access to a laboratory in Moscow and to the data they hold there.

Niggli staunchly defended the move, which paves the way for Russian athletes to return to the international sporting fold, and warned the country was not out of the woods yet.

"As regards RUSADA, the pressure now should be on Russia to deliver on what it has promised," Niggli said. "It is at a crossroads and has the chance to safeguard the future of Russian sport."

"Will Russia deliver? We certainly hope so because that is what is best for clean sport but WADA again stands ready to respond if it doesn't."

RUSADA chief Yury Ganus (L) and RUSADA deputy chief Margarita Pakhnotskaya briefing media about WADA's decision on lifting the ban on RUSADA in Moscow, Russia, September 20, 2018. /VCG Photo

The Swiss lawyer, who has been in his post since July 2016, said he believes the Russians will honor their promise after two years of stagnation and obfuscation on their part.

"There is no reason to believe they will not do it," he said. "It was a big step forward before they had refused to provide access to the laboratory because of the ongoing criminal investigation."

"I want to believe they will deliver on it now."

"It is a two-step process," he said. "Firstly, an independent panel chosen by Russia and WADA must go and get the data and then, step two, analyze the data and decide if there are samples still in the lab that need to be re-analyzed."

"Then we would request access to those samples specifically."

Source(s): AFP