From Inside the Games
World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) President Sir Craig Reedie made a plea for unity following the fractious fall-out to the Russian doping scandal as he claimed gaining access to the data at the Moscow Laboratory has proven the organisation made the right decision to reinstate the country.
Sir Craig used his keynote address at the Annual Symposium here to staunchly defend the way WADA handled the Russian situation amid criticism of the actions taken by the global watchdog.
The Scot, whose term at the helm of WADA comes to an end in November, also called on all those involved in anti-doping to work together as “divisions help nobody”.
The decision from the WADA Executive Committee to lift the suspension on the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in September sparked a backlash against the organisation from athletes and largely Western National Anti-Doping Organisations (NADOs).
WADA then came under more pressure to sanction Russia after the country missed a December 31 deadline to grant access to data stored at the Moscow Laboratory, although it was eventually able to extract the information 10 days later.
But WADA opted against further punishments against the scandal-hit nation as the Compliance Review Committee claimed formal proceedings should only be a “last resort” and that there was no precedent for such sanctions.
