The World Anti-Doping Agency "appeared to hammer another nail into the coffin of Russian track and field athletes’ hopes of competing in the Olympics on Wednesday by detailing numerous violations of its rules when it tried to take samples in the country" -- including its testers being obstructed and intimidated by Russian security services and officials, according to Sean Ingle of the London GUARDIAN.
In a report published two days before the IAAF decides on whether to readmit Russia’s track and field team to int'l competition in time for the Rio Olympics, WADA also revealed that "packages containing samples had been tampered with by Russian customs services and that a number of athletes had provided false information on their whereabouts and avoided drugs testers at competitions."
The report, entitled "Play True -- Update on the Status of Russia Testing," revealed that 736 tests required from Russian athletes "were declined or cancelled from November 2015 to earlier this month." There were also 52 positive tests and 111 whereabouts failures over the same period. The report also said that WADA’s officers "were intimidated and that armed FSB security agents threatened their testers with expulsion from the country" (GUARDIAN, 6/15).
