Meldonium, a drug used for heart disease, was added to the World Anti-Doping Agency's list of banned substances in 2016. (Photo : Getty Images / Donat Sorokin)
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has publicly requested the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to disqualify all Russian teams from participation during this summer's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The unprecedented appeal came following a report that confirmed a whistle-blower's allegations in which doping was initiated by the Russian government during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, in an official statement from the Kremlin, responded to the report by asking WADA for "fuller and more objective fact-based information" in order to aid their own investigation into the matter. He also stated that doping has "no place" in sports. As for the officials named in the report, Putin said that they will be temporarily vacated from their posts until a thorough investigation is concluded.
In the official report found in the WADA official website, Canadian attorney Richard McLaren presented evidence that a doping program which was known to and run by Russian authorities, was implemented before, during, and after the Sochi Olympics. The report detailed that as early as 2011, athletes were given performance enhancing drugs (PEDs) and urine samples were regularly swapped.
11 out of 95 total samples from the Sochi Olympics were randomly chosen by the investigating team for analysis. According to the report, all 11 was found to have signs of tampering, confirming the confession of Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov. Rodchenkov was the former Russian anti-doping lab director who leaked to the media regarding the athletes' use of PEDs. He alleged that he did so due to orders from the Russian government and under the supervision of Russian intelligence.
McLaren said in an interview that his investigation proved "beyond a reasonable doubt" that the Russian ministry of sport, the anti-doping body and the security service were all involved in an intricate cheating scheme.
The IOC called the allegations in the report "shocking" and "unprecedented" and vowed to pursue the harshest possible sanctions against any individual or organization implicated. The IOC, which has the power to prohibit a complete national delegation, has scheduled a meeting Tuesday to deliberate provisional measures and sanctions.
WADA has also called on various international governing bodies to impose sanctions on Russia, including their officials.
