RUSADA Formally Appeals WADA Sanctions over Tainted Doping Data

The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) has sent the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) official notice of its intent to appeal the package of punishments handed out after a ruling of non-compliance with a previous set of WADA sanctions.

• See the official letters of appeal to WADA here (in Russian and English)
• Read more about the WADA sanctions here.

In a letter sent to WADA, RUSADA said that it did not agree with the punishments that would span a minimum of 4 years and include the absence of the Russian flag from major international sporting events and blocking Russia from hosting and bidding on major international events.

The appeal by RUSADA came in spite of the fact that RUSADA director general Yury Ganus objected to an appeal and wanted RUSADA to accept the sanctions as levied. The RUSADA Supervisory Board agreed to contest the sanctions, which will trigger an appeal process to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

In his letter, Ganus said that he “regrets to inform you all that all my attempts, including attempts to introduce changes to the RUSADA notice, have failed.” Ganus has said publicly that he believes that there is “no chance of winning the case in court.”

Since the WADA-proposed sanctions were announced earlier this month, many have spoken out saying that anything short of a full Olympic ban for Russian athletes would be a sanction too light for Russia, who are accused of manipulating test results and records before turning them over to WADA for inspection after the McLaren Report.

Russian athletes who can prove innocence or who were not otherwised identified as having had results tampered with by WADA investigations will be allowed to compete in the Tokyo Olympic Games under a neutral flag.

FINA has not responded to requests for information about how the WADA ruling will impact major swim meets that have been awarded to Russia. The 2022 World Short Course Championships, the 2021 European Short Course Swimming Championships, and the 2024 European Aquatics Championships are all scheduled to be hosted in Kazan, as are the 2025 FINA World Aquatics Championships – though that meet is after the 4-year non-compliance period would, in theory, expire.

Russia would also be blocked from bidding for the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games – a bid that was widely expected to be presented.

Russian president Vladimir Putin said the decision by WADA was “unfair” and “goes against common sense.”

Implementation of sanctions will be delayed pending the outcome of the appeal.