Russian sport should take a break and miss several Olympic Games to bring the doping situation under control, Richard Pound, the first head of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), IOC member, told Reuters.
“At some point, if they are absolutely incorrigible, a situation arises when the country needs to take a timeout. We could say that we can help you focus on your problem. Take time out for one or two or three Olympics until the situation is under control,” Pound said.
According to him, the Russians "do not help themselves, because they have absolutely no repentance." “They do not admit anything, they will appeal every decision. I think it was too soft a decision to let them play as a team of the Russian Olympic Committee, ”said Pound.
Pound compared the attitude of WADA and international sports authorities towards Russia to an attempt to "feed the alligators in the hope that you will be the last to be eaten."
The Kremlin called the situation with the doping test of Valieva Olympics 2022 a misunderstanding On February 11, it became known that the Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva, who became the champion in the team tournament at the Olympics, passed a positive doping test for trimetazidine at the end of December 2021. RBC Sport sources claim that the banned substance was found in a small amount, and the ROC said that all subsequent samples of Valieva were clean.
“Anything happens, and I am sure that the Russians have enlisted the support of lawyers and are doing everything possible to control the damage. But how could they expose Valieva to such a risk? It's not a tainted supplement, it's a non-therapeutic use of a fairly potent drug," Pound said.
The exit panel of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) will decide on Valieva's further participation in the Olympics in the coming days.
In accordance with the decision of the CAS, Russian athletes, after a series of doping scandals, take part in the Games in Beijing as an "OCD team", without a flag and an anthem.
Pound chaired WADA from 1999–2007.
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