The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) will review Russia’s letter regarding the McLaren Report before making a recommendation to the body’s Foundation Board on the reinstatement of the country's anti-doping agency (RUSADA).
The WADA Compliance Review Committee will analyze all the details outlined in the official letter sent by the Russian sports authorities on the country’s stance on accepting the McLaren report findings, one of the criteria for reinstatement.
The committee will then write a recommendation report to the Foundation Board scheduled to take place on Thursday in Montreal, Canada, which will decide RUSADA’s fate.
“WADA Executive Board members have recently received Russia’s official letter regarding the country’s stance on the first reinstatement criteria – to accept the McLaren report findings,” Sergey Khrychikov, head of the Sport Conventions Division of the Council of Europe and a member of RUSADA’s Supervisory Council, told TASS.
“The head of WADA Compliance Review Committee Jonathan Taylor outlined in his speech that they haven’t yet had enough time to read [the] document. The Committee should first examine the letter before recommending anything to the Foundation Board,” he added.
RUSADA was initially declared non-compliant with the WADA code following the publication of WADA’s Independent Commission report in November 2015.
Last November, the world doping watchdog extended RUSADA’s suspension and refused to reinstate the body as two key demands stipulated by the agency had remained unmet. These were to publicly accept the findings of the WADA-commissioned investigation into alleged state-sponsored doping by Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren, and to provide access to samples in Moscow’s anti-doping laboratory.
WADA Director General Olivier Niggli said that RUSADA’s status had remained “unchanged” after WADA’s Executive Committee met behind closed doors on Wednesday.
WADA chief Craig Reedie has said on numerous occasions that Russia’s reluctance to accept the McLaren report findings creates obstacles for RUSADA’s reinstatement.