DISINFO: World Anti-Doping Agency doesn't have authority to make decisions affecting Russia
SUMMARY
It is necessary to emphasise that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) does not make decisions in relation to Russian sports, it offers them. The end point will be the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) process. A number of sanctions offered by WADA are mainly directed against representatives of Russian state authorities, against state symbols, while part of the WADA does not have any authority to make any decisions that affect Russia or its representatives.
RESPONSE
One of the methods of Kremlin disinformation is to deny the authority of international organisations and independent agencies to regulate and implement sanctions that impact it. The topic of doping is also a popular one in Russian media outlets. See examples such as "The exclusion of Russian athletes in the Olympics is a form of war" and "There is no evidence that Russian athletes have been using doping". The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) was established in 1999 as an international independent agency composed and funded equally by the sport movement and governments around the world. Its key purpose is to carry out the World Anti-Doping Code (Code) – the document harmonising anti-doping policies in all sports and in all countries. WADA reports cases of non-compliance to its stakeholders who have jurisdiction to impose sanctions, including the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The Olympic charter was amended in 2003 to state that the adoption of the Code by the Olympic movement is mandatory. Only sports that adopt and implement the Code can be included and remain in the programme of the Olympic Games. If a country does not ratify the International Convention against Doping in Sport, it may be subject to sanctions from the IOC and from other sports organisations, including losing the right to host the Olympic Games. In Russia, the following organisations have accepted the WADA Code: Russian Olympic Committee, Russian Anti-Doping Agency 'RUSADA' and the Paralympic Committee. On November 25, 2019, WADA said its independent Compliance Review Committee (CRC) was recommending that RUSADA be declared non-compliant with the Code. Russia’s handling of WADA’s requests during the investigation of doping violations is “an extremely serious case of non-compliance” with several “aggravating features,” WADA stated. The measures the CRC proposed in its recommendations to the WADA Executive Committee (ExCo) are pending a final decision on December 9, 2019.