Italy, France and USA: WADA names worst doping-affected countries, Russia not in top 4

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has published its annual Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs) report revealing the countries with the most doping violations in 2017 - with Italy, France and the USA topping the list.

The report says that a total of 1,804 doping cases were recorded in 2017, indicating 13.1% increase of violations in comparison with figures registered in 2016.

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“1,459 of the ADRVs came out of Adverse Analytical Findings (AAFs), commonly known as ‘positive’ results. The remainder were derived from investigations and evidence-based intelligence into 317 violations committed by athletes and 28 by athlete support personnel,” WADA said.

Out of almost 2,000 detected doping cases, the majority of violations fell within endurance and power-demanding sports: bodybuilding, athletics and cycling.

The newly published list is topped by cycling power-house Italy, which has 51 out of 171 cases recorded in the bicycle racing sport.

France is in the second place with 128 cases, with bodybuilding (31 violations), cycling (13) and powerlifting (12) being the most doping-riddled sports in the country.

The third place in the worst doping cheaters list is occupied by the USA, which has 103 doping cases detected by WADA in 2017. According to the report athletics (19), weightlifting (19), and cycling (14) appeared to be the most problematic sports in terms of using performance-enhancing drugs.

With 84 violations, Brazil was ranked fourth in the doping list, while Russia - which has 82 confirmed doping cases - was fifth in the report.

At the start of December WADA’s Executive Committee unanimously voted to hand a four-year ban to Russia, prohibiting the country from taking part in and hosting international sporting events for the alleged manipulation of doping data retrieved from a Moscow laboratory.

The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) disagreed with WADA’s verdict and plans to file an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in an attempt to overturn the ban.