The Russians, in the face of global shame and embarrassment from well-researched investigations, documentaries, and testimony, continue to delude themselves into thinking that the Court of Arbitration for Sport, World Anti-Doping Agency and the Athletics Integrity Unit believe that they may be clean.
Like the American Impeachment process of President Donald Trump, the problem isn’t going away that easily. Expect the Russian to exhaust their avenues and to retaliate in some way, if they don’t get reinstated. Expect them to continue to cheat afterward.
They don’t really have democracy there, but like a dog with a new toy, they will play with it until it is destroyed.
From Inside the Games
The Supervisory Board of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) will “most likely” decide to appeal against the range of sanctions from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), according to deputy director general Margarita Pakhnotskaya.
RUSADA’s Supervisory Board will meet tomorrow to decide whether to appeal the WADA’s decision, imposed as punishment for the country manipulating Moscow Laboratory data, to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
When asked if she expected the ruling seven-member body, which does not include director general Yury Ganus or his deputy, to contest the sanctions, Pakhnotskaya told insidethegames: “Most likely you are right.”
Pakhnotskaya also indicated her opposition to a possible CAS appeal, adding she was hopeful of a “reasonable decision of these people tomorrow”.
It comes after Ganus there was “no chance of winning the case in court” following the WADA decision.
Jonathan Taylor, head of the Compliance Review Committee which recommended the series of punishments after an investigation found the data had been tampered with before it was handed over to WADA, is confident the ruling will be upheld at CAS.
“Do I expect the decision of CAS to be different from the decision of the WADA Executive Committee?” Taylor said last week.
“No I don’t.”
