The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA; russian: Российское антидопинговое агентство, РУСАДА), established in January 2008, is the Russian
National Anti-Doping Organisation (NADO), affiliated with (but suspended from, since 2015)
the World Anti-Doping Agency
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA; french: Agence mondiale antidopage, AMA) is a foundation initiated by the International Olympic Committee based in Canada to promote, coordinate, and monitor the fight against drugs in sports. The agency's key ...
(WADA).
History
It was established under the rules of the UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...
International Convention against Doping in Sport approved at the 33rd UNESCO General Conference on 19 October 2005, and ratified by the Russian Federation on 26 December 2006. As the Russian NADO, the organization operates the anti-doping programs for Russian Olympic
Olympic or Olympics may refer to
Sports
Competitions
* Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896
** Summer Olympic Games
** Winter Olympic Games
* Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...
and Paralympic sport.
The organization's WADA accreditation, which under normal circumstances would have been valid until 2017, is currently suspended due to compliance issues discussed below.
The agency website claims they are an organization independent from the Russian government.
The Acting Director-General of RUSADA, since at least October 2020, is Mikhail Bukhanov.
ARAF doping allegations
Following allegations made by German broadcaster ARD in 2014, WADA commissioned a report into doping and associated corruption in Russian athletics. The report, published in November 2015, was highly critical of RUSADA and the All-Russia Athletic Federation
The Russian Athletics Federation (RAF), previously named the All-Russia Athletic Federation (ARAF; russian: Всероссийская федерация лёгкой атлетики, ВФЛА), is the governing body for the sport of athletics in ...
(ARAF), as well as singling out several individuals for doping offences. It concluded that RUSADA was under improper influence from the Russian Ministry of Sport. They further alleged that the agency and its employees athletes gave advance notice of tests to athletes and "routinely" took bribes to cover up doping.
On 18 November 2015, WADA suspended the Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory, a laboratory of RUSADA; however the organization was not dissolved and tests are to be done by other independent labs.
In February 2016, two high-ranking directors of the organisation—Vyacheslav Sinyev and Nikita Kamayev—died. According to ''The Sunday Times
''The Sunday Times'' is a British newspaper whose circulation makes it the largest in Britain's quality press market category. It was founded in 1821 as ''The New Observer''. It is published by Times Newspapers Ltd, a subsidiary of News UK, whi ...
'', Kamayev approached the news agency shortly before his death planning to publish a book on "the true story of sport pharmacology and doping in Russia since 1987".
2016 McLaren Report
On 18 July 2016, Richard McLaren, a WADA-appointed investigator, published a 97-page report covering significant state-sponsored doping in Russia. It concluded that it was shown "beyond a reasonable doubt" that the RUSADA, the Ministry of Sport
A Ministry of Sports or Ministry of Youth and Sports is a kind of government Ministry (government department), ministry found in certain countries with responsibility for the regulation of sports, particularly those participated in by young people ...
, the Federal Security Service
The Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation (FSB) RF; rus, Федеральная служба безопасности Российской Федерации (ФСБ России), Federal'naya sluzhba bezopasnosti Rossiyskoy Feder ...
(FSB) and the Centre of Sports Preparation of the National Teams of Russia had "operated for the protection of doped Russian athletes" within a "state-directed failsafe system" using "the disappearing positive estmethodology."[ According to the McLaren report, the Disappearing Positive Methodology operated from "at least late 2011 to August 2015."][ It was used on 643 positive samples, a number that the authors consider "only a minimum" due to limited access to Russian records.][
In response to these findings, WADA announced that RUSADA should be regarded as non-compliant with respect to the World Anti-Doping Code and recommended that Russian athletes be banned from competing at the ]2016 Summer Olympics
The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...
.
On 18 May 2018, WADA said that the RUSADA suspension will remain in place until they make progress towards full compliance.[ On 20 September 2018 later that year, the suspension was lifted by WADA.]["Wada lifts Russia's three-year doping suspension and faces its biggest crisis". By Sean Ingle. The Guardian. Sept 20, 2018]
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References
{{Doping in Russia
Anti-doping organizations
Anti-Doping
In competitive sports, doping is the use of banned Performance-enhancing substance, athletic performance-enhancing drugs by athletic competitors as a way of cheating in sports. The term ''doping'' is widely used by organizations that regulate sp ...
Doping in Russia
Organizations established in 2008
2008 establishments in Russia