The date is anything but anecdotal. The two-year suspension of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA), imposed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in reaction to the manipulation of data from the Moscow laboratory, officially ended on Saturday, December 17, 2022. The end of purgatory? In theory, certainly. But nothing is yet completely acquired for the Russian clan. WADA explained recently: the situation of RUSADA must be examined and analyzed before the sanctions can be completely lifted. “RUSADA continues to fail to comply with the World Anti-Doping Code,” the agency said in a statement. “On December 17, WADA management will initiate a full review to carefully assess whether RUSADA has met all of the conditions for reinstatement set forth in the CAS decision. Once WADA Management is satisfied that all conditions have been met, it will refer the matter to the Independent Compliance Review Committee (ICRC) for review. If the conditions for reinstatement are not fully met, RUSADA’s non-compliant status will continue until they are met.” All is not won, then, for RUSADA, and by extension for Russian sport. Witold Banka, the president of WADA, pointed this out again at the beginning of the month: the case of skater Kamila Valieva, who was found to be doping before the 2022 Beijing Winter Games, has still not been settled, as RUSADA refuses to make public the hearings of the young girl and her entourage. “Despite the formal notice of RUSADA to resolve this case quickly, no progress has been made within a reasonable time,” insisted the Pole. As a reminder, WADA had initially requested a suspension of RUSADA for a period of four years, but the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) reduced it to two years.
