WADA's McLaren Report Confirms Widespread State-Sponsored Doping by Russia

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) published the results of the Independent McLaren Investigation Report (“The McLaren Report”) on January 18, 2016. The report comes two months after WADA hired Toronto-based attorney and Western University law professor Richard McLaren to lead an independent commission to investigate specific allegations published in the New York Times in May 2016.

In the New York Times article, Grigory Rodchenkov, the former director of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) between 2005 and 2015, made several specific claims about the state-sponsored doping in Russia before and during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. The claims included allegations that RUSADA was actively involved in covering up the use of anabolic steroids and performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) by Russian athletes; that the Russian intelligence service known as the FSB (Federal Security Service of the Russian Federation) was able to replace dirty urine with clean urine in “tamper-proof” anti-doping collection containers; that Russian athletes were using an undetectable three-steroid cocktail containing methenolone, trenbolone and oxandrolone

The McLaren Report confirmed practically all of Rodchenkov's allegations. Specifically, McLaren confirmed that the FSB, the Center of Sports Preparation of National Teams of Russia (CSP) and the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) were all complicit in the cover-up of doping by Russian athletes.

McLaren said he was “supremely confident” in the report's findings. The report concluded “beyond a reasonable doubt” that Russia was guilty of state-sponsored doping. Russia not only helped cover up doping at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, it also helped Russian athletes competing at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, the 2013 World University Games in Kazan and the 2014 World Championships in Moscow.

“This is a slice of what is going on, not the total picture,” McLaren said. “But this included most of the winter and summer sports. And we do know that every single positive was sent up the chain of command and sent back down again.”

It took McLaren 57 days to produce the report. He was also the first to admit that his report only provided a small insight into the world of doping in international sports. McLaren refused to take a position on whether Russia should be banned from the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro as a result of the damning report. 

However, WADA and the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) showed no such restraint in recommending a blanket ban on all Russian athletes at the Olympics.

Fortunately, neither WADA or USADA have the power or authority to ban Russia from the Olympics. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) is the only organization that can do so. However, both WADA and USADA enthusiastically called for Russia's expulsion from the Rio Olympics.

“The McLaren Report has concluded, beyond a reasonable doubt, a mind-blowing level of corruption within both Russian sport and government that goes right to the field of play,” USADA CEO Travis Tygart said.”Most importantly, our hearts go out to athletes from all over the world who were robbed of their Olympic dreams. We must come together as an international community – comprised of those who truly believe in the spirit of Olympism – to ensure this unprecedented level of criminality never again threatens the sports we cherish.”

Only the IOC has the authority to ban all Russian athletes from participation in the Olympics. The IOC president Thomas Bach described the findings of the McLaren report as “a shocking and unprecedented attack on the integrity of sports and on the Olympic Games”. The final decision on Russia's Olympic fate rests with the IOC excecutive board. 

Source:

Ingle, S. (July 18, 2016). Russia orchestrated state-sponsored doping cover-up, says Wada report. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/jul/18/wada-report-russia-sochi-winter-olympic