First miracle of the Sochi Games: Russia is no longer singled out as one of the dunces in the fight against doping. Representatives of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said it again and again, Wednesday evening in Sochi, during a press conference: Russian sport is “doing good job“. He is no longer lagging behind. And would even be at the forefront.
Craig Reedie, the new president of WADA, and David Howman, the executive director, have heaped praise on Russia and its anti-doping agency, Rusada. “ We have worked closely with them since 2010, we are very satisfied with the results“, explained the first. “ Over the past four years, Russian sport has significantly increased the number of tests. You just have to look at all the positive cases revealed recently among their athletes to understand that the Russians are doing a good job today.“, argued the second.
With the Sochi Games approaching, Russian sport would therefore have bought itself a course. And even broke the bank to participate in the collective effort to finance the fight against cheaters. According to the country's media, the Moscow authorities paid an exceptional grant of $300.000 to WADA. A way to buy kindness? “ Certainly not, replies Craig Reedie. This money should have been paid to UNESCO for its anti-doping program. The Russians preferred to attribute it to us“. Same story with David Howman: “ The Russians have discovered that our budget has not increased in recent years. So they decided to help us financially"
Very optimistic about its future and that of wrestling, WADA took advantage of the same press conference to declare itself very satisfied with the “number of controls undertaken” ahead of the Sochi Games, by the international federations and the Olympic committees. national. But she refused to communicate the number of athletes caught red-handed in the months or weeks preceding the Games. The Agency wants to avoid that these figures “ can be misinterpreted“summarized David Howman, the New Zealand lawyer.
