Russia鈥檚 track and field athletes should be banned from next year鈥檚 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a committee set up by the World Anti-Doping Agency has suggested.
The recommendation was part of an investigation into alleged state-sanctioned doping practices, which found evidence of cover-ups, the destruction of samples, and payments to conceal failed drugs tests.
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WADA set up an independent commission in December 2014 to investigate allegations of widespread doping in Russia made in a German TV documentary.
鈥淚t鈥檚 worse than we thought,鈥� said Richard Pound, chair of the commission and a former president of WADA. 鈥淯nlike other forms of corruption, it affected results on the field of play.鈥�
The commission鈥檚 was released yesterday and implicates the All-Russia Athletic Federation, the Russian Anti-Doping Agency and government officials in systemic efforts to undermine drug-testing programmes.
It accuses the Russian Ministry of Sport of issuing direct orders to 鈥渕anipulate particular samples鈥�, and describes 鈥渄irect intimidation and interference by the Russian state鈥� in the work of a in Moscow.
According to the commission, the director of the testing lab, Grigory Rodchenkov, ordered the destruction of 1400 tests days before the visit of a WADA audit team that had asked for them to be retained. A second laboratory with the same drug-testing capabilities was being run under the control of the Moscow government and assisted in the cover-up of positive results, it says.
Sporting 鈥渟abotage鈥�
The report also claims that agents from Russia鈥檚 security service infiltrated anti-doping work at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, and that the London 2012 games were 鈥渟abotaged鈥� by the admission of Russian athletes with suspicious profiles who were not properly investigated.
The report recommends that Russia be suspended from athletics competitions. Pound said he hoped the country would voluntarily withdraw to get its house in order. 鈥淚 hope they will recognise that it鈥檚 time to change,鈥� he said at a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland.聽In addition, the commission believes that five Russian athletes should be banned from competing for life, including 800-metre runner Mariya Savinova (pictured).
It will be up to the International Association of Athletics Federations and the International Olympic Committee to decide what action to take. The IAAF has said it will consider sanctions against Russia.
鈥淚t is an extraordinarily dark day for athletics,鈥� UK sports minister Tracey Crouch wrote on Twitter.
Russia鈥檚 doping programme is only part of a scandal that threatens to engulf the sport. Former president of the IAAF, Lamine Diack, is under investigation by French police for allegedly accepting more than 鈧�1 million to cover up failed drug tests. He was arrested last week as a result of information that WADA鈥檚 commission passed on to Interpol.
His successor, Lord Coe, said he was determined to rebuild trust in the sport, but that it faced 鈥渁 long road to redemption鈥�.
Chris Cooper, a sports scientist at the University of Essex in Colchester, UK, says the sort of systematic collusion that the report describes is probably not common because it requires a certain level of infrastructure 鈥� but he suspects that doping does occur elsewhere. 鈥淚t鈥檚 clearly not just Russia,鈥� he says. 鈥淟ow-level corruption in other countries would not surprise me.鈥�
Image credit: Professional Sport/Getty
