The leader of the taskforce responsible for determining Russia’s participation at the Rio 2016 Olympics will address new allegations that little has changed in the country when the IAAF council meets in Monaco on Friday.
The Norwegian anti-doping expert Rune Andersen, the independent chairman of the taskforce, will respond to the allegations made in a new report from the German broadcaster ARD, the documentary team that first revealed the extent of widespread doping in Russia in December 2014.
The programme, Doping Top Secret: Russia’s Red Herrings – broadcast in Germany on Sunday – contained numerous undercover recordings showing some coaches are still actively dealing in performance-enhancing drugs and that the suspended Russian coach Vladimir Mokhnev is working with elite athletes. The programme also presented documentary evidence that new head of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency, Anna Anzelovich, had previously informed athletes about dates for doping tests.
The programme quoted Joseph de Pencier, the chairman of the International Association of National Anti-Doping Associations, who was “very sceptical” about claims Russia had reformed since it was banned from international athletics in November 2015: “When an official intentionally informs athletes in advance of doping tests, in order to defeat the doping control, disciplinary consequences must follow. This must be investigated and a consequence would be that this person is fired. We are very sceptical about Russian athletes. According to current knowledge, Russian athletes should not be allowed to compete at the 2016 Olympic Games.”
