Moscow Antidoping Center Dir Grigory Rodchenkov resigned "after being accused of destroying more than 1,400 samples to foil an investigation into the systematic use of performance-enhancing drugs in athletics," according to Farchy & Moore of the FINANCIAL TIMES. Rodchenkov was described by an independent commission set up by the World Anti-Doping Agency as being "at the heart" of a system that encouraged athletes to take drugs. A report by the commission said, "He not only accepted, but also requested money in order to execute the concealment of positive test results." The commission also said there had been "collusion" between Rodchenkov and the president of the Russian athletics federation to swap clean samples for tainted ones. It recommended that Rodchenkov be "permanently removed from his position." Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko paid tribute to Rodchenkov after the resignation, describing him as a professional and saying that he had decided to leave in order "to carry all the negative with him" (FT, 11/10). Following the release on Monday of the WADA Independent Commission Report, WADA acted immediately to suspend the accreditation of the Moscow Antidoping Center. The suspension, which takes effect immediately, prohibits the Moscow Antidoping Center from carrying out any WADA-related anti-doping activities including all analyses of urine and blood samples. The Moscow Antidoping Center may appeal this decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport within 21 days of receipt of notice. In the meantime, all samples for the Moscow Antidoping Center will now be transported securely, promptly and with a demonstrable chain of custody to an alternative WADA-accredited laboratory (WADA).
APPLYING PRESSURE: The PA reported the pressure on IAAF President Sebastian Coe is "set to intensify" when he is "grilled by MPs on his handling of athletics’ doping scandal and his links with Nike." Coe is expected to appear before the culture, media and sport select committee before Christmas to answer questions on the crisis which has seen Russia implicated in "state-sponsored" doping and Coe’s predecessor arrested. Coe "has taken some flak over the IAAF’s role in the scandal" and will also be quizzed about continuing as a Nike brand ambassador. It "has been raised as an area for possible conflicts of interest -- if for example the company also sponsors drugs cheats." Committee member Damian Collins, MP for Folkestone and Hythe, "confirmed he would ask Coe, who is also chairman of the British Olympic Association, about his continuing Nike connections." He said, "I am going to ask him about that. If athletics is going to have a new clean image it can’t be right for the president of the IAAF to be sponsored by Nike." A spokesperson for the IAAF said, "Seb Coe and other colleagues from the IAAF have agreed to give evidence to the select committee under their remit of looking into anti-doping but a date is yet to be fixed" (PA, 11/10).
IN THE SPOTLIGHT: In London, Rick Broadbent wrote Coe "was facing a deluge of questions." A series of ill-timed statements "left him battling to gain a foothold on the moral high ground as he seeks to clean up his sport." Coe "lavished praise on Lamine Diack, the outgoing president, before he was placed under police investigation" amid claims he took €1M ($1.07M) in bribes to bury drug tests. He "seemed similarly oblivious to any impending storm when he visited Russia this month." For Coe "it has been a torrid baptism as president." He "has also faced repeated questions about a possible conflict of interest due to his role as as special adviser to Nike." Coe refused to give up the £100,000 ($151,000)-a-year role "despite controversies such as Nike backing Justin Gatlin" (LONDON TIMES, 11/10). Also in London, Matt Dickinson wrote Coe "was forced to make an embarrassing U-turn over the Russian doping scandal." Coe "had initially said that Russia should not face exclusion from athletics." Dick Pound, who led the WADA commission into the Russian allegations, said that Coe "should have spoken with more caution, given the extent of accusations of corruption flagged up by the recent arrest" of Diack. Pound said, "You’ve got to know something is coming. You’ve got to know with the leak of the Diack stuff that this is now some serious s***. To keep my powder dry would have been my recommendation if he’d asked me what he should be doing" (LONDON TIMES, 11/10).
'TIP OF THE ICEBERG': The BBC reported UK Athletics Chair Ed Warner said Russia "is not the only country with systemic doping problems." Warner said, "I suspect there are probably four, five or six nations that athletics has a problem with." He also said that the IAAF "must be restructured to combat the problem." Warner said that after reviewing the feedback the IAAF "would look at a range of options, including sanctions," which could result in Russia's suspension from the sport. Russia's sports ministry has said it will work more closely with WADA, although the Kremlin has described the report as "groundless" and Russian Sport Minister Vitaly Mutko said, "Doping is not the problem of Russia. Russia shouldn't be singled out. It's a world problem." Pound said, "It's probably the tip of the iceberg. Russia is not the only country and athletics is not the only sport with a doping problem" (
BBC, 11/10).
AOC SUPPORTS BAN: In Sydney, David Sygall reported the Australian Olympic Committee said it would support the expulsion of the Russian athletics team from the Rio Olympics and has challenged the sport's governing body to act strongly on an "extremely disturbing" report. With President John Coates unavailable, 2016 Australian team Chef de Mission Kitty Chiller spoke on behalf of the national body and said she hoped the IAAF would "have the guts" to ban Russian track and field athletes from competing if it were found that the team was not WADA-compliant by the time the Games were staged next August. Chiller: "Poor old Seb, he's only been in the job a few weeks and he's got a huge task ahead of him. But if there is any man to have the guts and the courage and the integrity to do what's needed in that place, it's president Sebastian Coe" (SYDNEY MORNING HERALD, 11/10). In London, David Conn wrote FIFA’s ethics committee is to examine the WADA report for potential misconduct by Mutko, a FIFA exec committee member "who was heavily criticised at the report’s launch." Pound’s conclusion, expressed in introducing the report on Monday, was that Mutko, the Russian sports minister throughout the period in which doping is alleged, and a FIFA exec committee member since '09, "must have known of the systematic doping of athletes and was in effect party to its cover-up." Pound: "It was impossible for him not to be aware of it. And if he’s aware of it, he’s complicit in it" (GUARDIAN, 11/9).
