The Russian Anti-Doping Agency “RUSADA” Director General took part in the Conference “Partnership for clean competition” (PCC2019), held on April 16 and 17 in London. The conference gathered all representatives of the world anti-doping movement and representatives of the leading world media. Among the partners and sponsors of the Conference were USADA, UKAD, ThermoFisher Scientific, Comprehensive Drug Testing, Drug Free Sport International, NSF, InnoVero, NFL, US Olympic Committee, NHL, and others.
The headliner of the conference was the Athletics Integrity Unit Board Chairman, the first WADA President David Howman. With the report “Current State of Anti-Doping: Emerging Threats and Challenges for the Future,” he set the tone for the conference and attacked the imperfection and unprincipled nature of the current world anti-doping system, which did not stand the test of the Russian doping crisis.
The consequences of the Russian doping crisis, the changes caused to them in the international anti-doping movement, the WADA reaction, the technical issues of anti-doping activities in the interaction of various groups of stakeholders - these were the main issues of the conference.
A common thread through the agenda was the line of the doping crisis in Russia and the role of Russian athletes in it.
One of the RUSADA objectives, implemented by Yuri Ganus at the forum, was to present the updated RUSADA progressive annual report for 2017-2018 to the world anti-doping community. Like the participants of the WADA and iNADO forums, the conference participants recognized the achievements of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency as inspirational. RUSADA not only restores confidence and becomes a member of the international anti-doping community. The renewed agency also restores the confidence of a healthy sports community in Russia, protecting the interests of pure athletes. RUSADA Director General presence at the PCC2019 Conference confirms that. At the end of the panel "Promoting the voice of athletes to protect the pure sport", where representatives of the WADA athletes commission subjected the generalized criticism of all Russian athletes regardless of their doping history, and despite the fact that the panel moderator, well-known TV presenter Steve Scott, wanted to close the discussion, Yuri Ganus took the floor and addressed a question to the honored members of the panel, among whom were Becky Scott, Ali Jawad, Callum Skinner and Rob Köhler: "Is there a difference between clean athletes from Russia and clean athletes, for example, from the UK or the US? Obviously not. And if so, why is the division of clean athletes based on nationality, which pushes our clean athletes from the international environment instead of supporting them into challenging for Russian sports times and involve them in the processes of the international sports movement? " The silence of the panel participants, with the subsequent approval of the proposed position, confirmed the future prospects for restoring cooperation between clean athletes of Russia and the world in a constructive movement towards each other on the basis of the general principles of clean sport.
Our clean athletes need a dialogue, and most importantly - position, clear for the world, based on the ideals of clean and fair sport.
Recognizing the progressiveness of the athletes ’movement that is gaining momentum, Yuri Ganus defended clean athletes from Russia, stating that the red lines between clean athletes from Russia and the international sport movement are extremely non-constructive, separating clean Russian athletes, who themselves were the victim of the doping crisis, from the world sports community. All participants in the panel discussion supported the position of Yuri Ganus.
Yuri Ganus took an active part in a number of discussion panels, including the test panel “Legal Perspectives of New Collection and Testing Methods”, which was attended by William Bock III (USADA), Janice Shardow (Governance United) and Jenny Johannesson, (International Doping Tests & MGMT). During the discussion, the RUSADA Director General raised the issue of regulators (and their roles) for private testing organizations. The question has caused a lively response due to its relevance throughout the world. According to authoritative speakers and conference participants, national anti-doping organizations should become regulators for private testing organizations in their jurisdiction.
The conference included working meetings of Yuri Ganus with Michael Pearlmutter, CEO of PCC, David Howman, Chairman of the Athletics Integrity Unit Board, Tiger Travis, CEO of USADA, Michael Ask, Chairman of the iNADO board and CEO of Anti-doping Denmark, Benjamin Cohen, International Testing Agency Director General, Don Hooton Jr., Vice-President of Education Taylor Hooton Foundation, Alain Guiller from ThermoFisher Scientific, Kate Mittelstadt, Director of IRONMAN Anti-Doping Program, Gabriel Baida, Director of UFC and Premier Sport USADA, John Coyles, Vice President Drug, Major League Baseball Health and Safety Programs, Sean Cottrell, CEO LawInSport, Masato Okano, Tokyo Anti-Doping Laboratory LSI Medience Corporation Director General, and with other Conference participants.
During the working meetings and panel discussions of the conference, Yuri Ganus presented the experience and position of RUSADA on a wide range of aspects of anti-doping activities. The performance indicators and approaches of the new RUSADA were recognized as impressive and deserving of respect. Thus, in no country in the world, no anti-doping organization provides insurance coverage for testing programs in the event of damage to an athlete during blood sampling. Thus, the updated RUSADA, not in words, but in practice ensures the protection of clean athletes. This caused a genuine positive perception of the new RUSADA work results by representatives of the world anti-doping community.
