Athletes call for Court of Arbitration for Sport to ensure a public hearing of Doping Crisis

20 December 2019: The World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) recent report and declaration of non-compliance of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) indicated that RUSADA was part of the solution to clean up sport in Russia. In fact, WADA’s declaration of RUSADA’s non-compliance actually includes no sanctions towards them. RUSADA is permitted to do testing, result management and education; to the athletes, the message WADA is sending once again is it is business as usual despite the biggest doping scandal this century.

So why is RUSADA even appealing given WADA has issued the most lenient of bans? Is it because RUSADA has likely been influenced by the Russian Government or the National Olympic Committee and National Paralympic Committee to lodge an appeal? What other reasons would warrant such an appeal? If RUSADA was independent and was sticking to its mandate to protect clean sport, it would use the four-year sanction period as leverage to change the sporting culture as WADA has tasked it to do. After many body blows by Russia to WADA, RUSADA has just delivered a real slap to the face to the Global Regulator.

Now that this case is going to be heard at the Court of Arbitration of Sport, which is the accepted and established due process, we call on other members of the athlete community and all stakeholders to demand an open public hearing. Transparency will help build public confidence in the anti-doping movement at a time when trust in the system is at an all-time low.