Investigations into systematic doping within the nation of Russia continue on, as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is asking Russia for more information concerning its anti-doping practices during the years 2010-2015.
According to Vitaly Smirnov, Russia’s former IOC member who now runs a government-backed anti-doping commission, the IOC is requesting details on how the nation’s government bodies and sport officials carried out its testing and monitoring protocols over that 5-year period. The requests are stemming from the damaging ‘McLaren’ report, which was released last summer before the Olympic Games.
“We received from the IOC disciplinary commission the letter in question, including serious questions regarding the organization of the anti-doping system,” Smirnov said. “We’ve received almost all the answers to these questions and this week we are sending our answer to the disciplinary commission.” (ABC News)
In that 2016 report produced by an independent commission led by Richard McLaren, key findings revealed alarming details pointing to a Russian-led systematic doping effort. Findings included the Moscow Laboratory operating for the purpose of protecting doped Russian athletes, evidence of a unique sample swapping methodology at a Sochi laboratory, as well as alleged proof of manipulation by the Ministry of Sport regarding analytical results.
The IOC’s disciplinary commission requesting the details from Smirnov’s team is headed by Guy Canivet, a former French Constitution Court judge who is looking further into the allegations that Russia organizational leadership were instrumental in the covering up of hundreds of doping cases.
In another anti-doping update this week, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) confirmed that McLaren expects to release a 2nd report, entitled the ‘McLaren Investigation Report, Part II, in early December of this year. WADA says details on the report will be forthcoming shortly.