From Inside the Games
The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) has sent formal notice to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) that it will appeal the range of sanctions imposed on the country for manipulating the Moscow Laboratory data.
In a letter to WADA, RUSADA said it disagreed with the four-year package of punishments, which includes a ban on the Russian flag from major events such as the Olympic Games.
The formal statement will trigger an appeal process at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which will take the final decision in the long-running Russian doping scandal.
RUSADA director general Yury Ganus, whose objection to the decision to appeal was overruled by the Supervisory Board, said the organisation “disputes the [WADA] notice in its entirety”.
RUSADA’s Supervisory Board agreed earlier this month to contest the sanctions to the CAS.
“In accordance with established procedures, today we have sent a package of documents to WADA,” Ganus said at a press conference today.
In his own letter to WADA outlining his personal stance on RUSADA’s decision to appeal, Ganus said he “regrets to inform you that all my attempts, including attempts to introduce changes to the RUSADA notice, have failed”.
