German Media: Russia Suspected of Manipulating Moscow Lab Data

German journalists with news outlet ARD are reporting that Russia is suspected of manipulating data from the Moscow Anti-Doping lab. The data was provided to WADA as a necessary condition of RUSADA’s reinstatement last year.

ARD reporter Hajo Seppelt tweeted the breaking news on Friday, and fellow ARD investigative journalist Nick Butler added some more information in a retweet:

The data in question was central to RUSADA (Russia’s anti-doping agency)’s brush with WADA (the World Anti-Doping Agency) last year. WADA reinstated RUSADA in early 2018, despite the Russian agency not meeting the original standards of reinstatement. Part of the new policy for reinstatement was that RUSADA turn over important data from the Moscow Anti-Doping lab. Experts said the data was crucial to help build cases against athletes caught doping, and to exonerate athletes falsely suspected of being aided by what the McLaren Report deemed Russia’s institutionalized doping program.

Russia missed the first deadline to turn over the data, causing RUSADA’s head to publicly appeal to Russian President Vladimir Putinexpressing concern that Russian athletes would be suspended from international competition if the data was not turned over. WADA was eventually able to retrieve the data, and Russia met its next deadline for turning over samples more than a month in advance.

But now, Seppelt and Butler report that RUSADA is “under suspicion to have manipulated Moscow lab data.” Seppelt says the WADA “non compliance” procedure is already initiated, meaning Russia could be once again deemed non-compliant with WADA rules and could face sanctions.

On the other hand, a later tweet by Butler lays out one potential scenario where Russia appeals the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS):

We’ll be following this story as it continues to develop.

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Paul Thomas
4 years ago

I’m shocked. Shocked!

Well, not that shocked.

Joejoe
4 years ago

Shocking!!

Clean Sport
4 years ago

Russian athletes, since 1984, were systematically doped by the “Government”.

Every. Single. Athlete.

Why can’t we say communist countries have a vested interest to cheat?

Especially when hosting the Olympics.

Stan
Reply to  Clean Sport
4 years ago

Just don’t start! Everyone dopes! Every. Single. Athlete. Russians, Americans, Germans, Chinese. Everywhere where there is a chance to make millions of dollars, people cheat. This way or the other, more or less. That’s the sad truth of life.

Coach Mike 1952
4 years ago

What a surprise! (ongue bursting out of cheek)

Snarky
4 years ago

Just ban Russia already.

Snarky
Reply to  Snarky
4 years ago

Putin, is that your downvote?

About Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson

Jared Anderson swam for nearly twenty years. Then, Jared Anderson stopped swimming and started writing about swimming. He's not sick of swimming yet. Swimming might be sick of him, though. Jared was a YMCA and high school swimmer in northern Minnesota, and spent his college years swimming breaststroke and occasionally pretending …

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