From Inside the Games
Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) director general Yuriy Ganus has said he has “no optimism” about the potential reinstatement of the organisation.
The body has been non-compliant with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) since 2015 when allegations of state-sponsored doping in the country first emerged.
WADA’s Executive Board will gather for a key meeting in Seychelles on September 20 but Ganus said he does not expect RUSADA to be allowed back.
“I don’t have any optimism, unfortunately,” he said at a press conference in Moscow today, as reported by Reuters.
“The outlook is negative”.
Russia has been accused of the systematic manipulation of the doping system at their home Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics, with the International Olympic Committee (IOC) forcing them to compete under a neutral flag at Pyeongchang 2018 in February.
The country remains suspended by the International Association of Athletics Federations and the International Paralympic Committee, but the IOC’s ban on the Russian Olympic Committee was lifted immediately after Pyeongchang.
This was despite two Russians failing drug tests at the South Korean Games.
