By Aliyu DANLADI
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) was on Wednesday urged to take immediate action on Russia after it failed to provide access to critical data from its Moscow anti-doping laboratory.
Leaders of the National Anti-Doping Organisations (NADO) said that WADA should not wait until Jan. 14 meeting of WADA’s Compliance Review Committee (CRC).
“The importance of this situation does not warrant providing a further two weeks for Russia to comply.
“With the interest of clean sport hanging in the balance, WADA must call for CRC to convene and consider this matter without further delay,’’ NADO said in a statement.
NADO, which represents national anti-doping agencies from 16 countries, said the anti-doping world fully expects a decisive response in support of the clean athletes of the world.
“After more than three years of review, indecision and compromise in response to the worst doping scandal in the history of sport, the time has come to demonstrate that no individual nor nation is exempted from compliance with the World Anti-Doping Code,’’ it added.
WADA on Tuesday expressed bitter disappointment that Russia had not met a key deadline.
WADA controversially lifted the suspension of the Russian Agency Rusada in September, under two conditions, one of them gaining access by Dec. 31 to data in Moscow’s anti-doping laboratory.
Experts from WADA left Moscow empty-handed on Dec. 21 after Russian authorities demanded WADA certify their equipment under Russian law.
