Mikhail Bukhanov, acting CEO of RUSADA
- Common sense has prevailed and the flawed attempt to continue the exclusion of Russian athletes from international sport has been overturned. This will help competitive sport as well as anti-doping efforts worldwide, since the concept of collective guilt in anti-doping can now be consigned to the dustbin of history. The blanket ban undermined the necessity for all athletes to understand they are personally responsible for playing fair, and that their sporting career will be terminated if they use banned substances. Russian athletes who compete in Tokyo next year will have undergone more rigorous testing than the vast majority of athletes.
Still we are confused that CAS upheld WADA’s ban on RUSADA. WADA’s case against RUSADA is based on alleged manipulation of the Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory in 2018. Yet it is a fact – not disputed by WADA – that the database of the Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory was never under RUSADA’s control; neither was RUSADA involved in the data transfer process at the heart of the allegations – this is also not disputed by WADA.