DISINFO: WADA's decision is unfounded and illegal

DISINFORMATION CASE DETAILS

DISINFO: WADA's decision is unfounded and illegal

SUMMARY

The decision of WADA is illegal and unreasonable. Therefore, it should be objectively examined by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). On a formal far-fetched pretext, the status of RUSADA was temporarily suspended.

RESPONSE

One of the methods of Kremlin disinformation is to deny the authority of international organisations and independent agencies and question their missions. See examples: "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. The Russian Olympic Committee, the Russian Anti-Doping Agency 'RUSADA' and the Paralympic Committee have accepted the WADA Code. On November 25th 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. Commenting on the latest WADA CRC recommendations, head of RUSADA Ganus said “you can use political slogans as much as you like,” but the “reality of the situation” is that Russia’s sports authorities “did not do what could have been done” to explain the alterations to the database. There are no legal grounds to dispute the non-compliance (decision)."

Disclaimer

Cases in the EUvsDisinfo database focus on messages in the international information space that are identified as providing a partial, distorted, or false depiction of reality and spread key pro-Kremlin messages. This does not necessarily imply, however, that a given outlet is linked to the Kremlin or editorially pro-Kremlin, or that it has intentionally sought to disinform. EUvsDisinfo publications do not represent an official EU position, as the information and opinions expressed are based on media reporting and analysis of the East Stratcom Task Force.

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