By Steve Keating
(Reuters) – The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) will face more sanctions for failing to address non-compliance issues, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said on Friday.
Following executive committee meetings in Shanghai, WADA said it also found the Pan American Sport Organisation (Panam Sports) and the South Africa and Bermuda Anti-Doping Agencies in non-compliance with the WADA code.
The impact of new sanctions on RUSADA is likely to be limited as many have already been put in place by world sporting bodies because of Russia’s ongoing war with Ukraine, which Moscow calls a “special military operation”.
Among the punishments recommended by WADA’s Compliance Review Committee (CRC), Russia’s flag will not be flown at the Olympic Games, world championship, continental and regional competitions until reinstatement conditions are met.
WADA said that these would be fresh consequences with sanctions previously agreed to by the Court of Arbitration for Sport in December 2020 having elapsed after two years.
RUSADA was deemed non-compliant due to non-conformities relating to national legislation that were identified during a virtual audit in September 2022.
Both South Africa and Bermuda’s non-compliance is due to a failure to appropriately implement the WADA Code into their legal systems.
The two countries will have 21 days to dispute or resolve non-compliance concerns.
South Africa could be under a particularly tight deadline when it comes to the Rugby World Cup.
Should South Africa not address the non-compliance issues before the 21-day appeal window closes they would be unable to fly their flag should they reach the quarter-finals and beyond.
If non-compliance is confirmed, the main impact on the Pan Am Games, which are set for Santiago from Oct. 20 to Nov. 5, would be that there will be supervision of the entire testing program implemented by Panam Sports at their expense.
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto. Editing by Toby Davis)
