It's done. Finally. The three WADA experts sent to the Moscow anti-doping laboratory since last week have completed their work. They accomplished their mission.
The World Anti-Doping Agency is categorical. She announced it via a press release, where a touch of pride and real relief can be seen between the lines: her three specialists are not leaving Russia with empty pockets, as after their last visit to Moscow. They recovered the data from the old laboratory’s controls.
Craig Reedie commented on the news without holding back a penchant for emphasis: “ This is a major step forward for clean sport. The long standoff over access to the old Moscow laboratory has ended and that is excellent news. »
An episode ends. It took longer than expected. Arriving in the middle of last week in the Russian capital, the WADA experts were supposed to complete the matter in 3 days. They needed a little more than twice as much to complete the job. The reason ? Mystery.
The rest promises to be copious. The AMA teams will have to authenticate these hundreds of data, repatriated without delay to the organization's headquarters in Montreal. Craig Reedie warns: “ Given the amount of data this will take time, but our experts have the tools to verify this with a high degree of certainty. » Cool.
During this phase of work, WADA experts will endeavor to isolate, among the thousand data extracted from the Moscow laboratory, the most suspicious cases. They will then need to obtain from the Russian authorities the provision of samples corresponding to this data. Russia must comply no later than June 30, 2019. Suspect samples will then be analyzed in an approved laboratory.
In the meantime, the WADA Executive Committee is due to meet next week, Tuesday January 22, to decide the fate of the Russian anti-doping agency (RUSADA).
To do this, the supreme body of WADA must rely on a recommendation from its Conformity Review Committee (CRC). She was supposed to come no later than Thursday, January 17, at the end of a meeting of the committee in question, organized at the very beginning of the week. But its members were unable to make the slightest recommendation, due to lack of information provided by the mission in Moscow.
According to a WADA spokesperson, the recommendation was “ finalized”. Hastily, it seems, in the few hours following the end of the visit to the Russian capital by envoys from Montreal. But it would be in the pipeline. “ A CRC report has been sent to the members of the executive committee”, confirms WADA.
The main thing remains: the fight against cheaters. According to Craig Reedie, WADA will tackle it without delay. “ Once the data is authenticated, we will be able to move on to the third phase and help the various organizations concerned, sports and anti-doping, to build solid cases against doping athletes., assured the Scottish leader.
The doping saga in Russia is not over. But its main players could change in the coming months.
