World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) execs said on Monday that they would call for “serious” action against Russia before the Rio Olympics in August "if a new investigation next month shows evidence of widespread state-sponsored doping," according to Adrian Warner of REUTERS. The Russian team has "already been suspended from the athletics events in Rio." But WADA has set up another investigation under Canadian law professor Richard McLaren to "probe allegations of state-backed doping at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics." WADA President Craig Reedie said that the McLaren investigation "would make its findings public before July 15 at the latest." If it shows evidence of widespread state-run cheating across many sports, the British official said it would be a moment for a “precedent-setting opportunity.” Reedie would not confirm that WADA "would definitely call for a total ban on the country," but he said, "If it comes back like that, we have to say something serious" (REUTERS, 6/20). In London, Murad Ahmed reported the IOC, which has "ultimate authority" over the Games, will give its view on Russian participation in Rio on Tuesday. Russia President Vladimir Putin's spokesperson has dismissed the allegations as "smears by a turncoat." In a sign of the "likely political fallout should the Russian ban be reaffirmed or extended," Putin has warned the int'l community "against singling out his country over misconduct in sport." Putin: "If somebody is trying to politicize this, that's a big mistake." Reedie said, "I don't think there's any political issues. This is a straightforward sports inquiry ... [Russia] was not playing by the rules" (FINANCIAL TIMES, 6/20). SKY SPORTS' Paul Vinnell reported McLaren said in a preliminary statement on Friday that he had evidence that Russia's Ministry of Sport was involved in instructing a Moscow laboratory to "not report positive sample results over the period before, during and after" the 2013 World Athletics Championships (SKY SPORTS, 6/20). In London, David Walsh reported former WADA President Dick Pound said that it is "not impossible" that the entire Russia team could be banished from this summer's Olympic Games in Rio. Pound’s "fears for the rest of the Russia team are based on the potential outcome" of McLaren's WADA investigation. Pound said, "Kicking the Russia team out of the Rio Games would be the nuclear option but it’s not impossible. This investigation into Sochi has come about because of allegations made by Grigory Rodchenkov, the former head of the Moscow anti-doping laboratory, and he was high enough up in the Russian system to know what was going on." Russian authorities announced they "were opening a criminal case against Rodchenkov," who now lives in the U.S. (LONDON TIMES, 6/19).
