Russian federal investigators have opened a criminal case against the former director of the country's anti-doping laboratory on charges of abuse of power.
Grigory Rodchenkov, who has fled to the United States, revealed last month an elaborate doping cover-up scheme at the 2014 Sochi Olympics that involved at least 15 medalists, with close ties to the Russian sports ministry and security service (FSB).
Russian Investigative Committee spokesman Vladimir Markov said Saturday that Rodchenkov is accused of destroying more than 1,400 doping test samples at the Moscow laboratory in 2014 after a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) commission asked they be preserved for its investigation following allegations of doping by Russian athletes at the Sochi Olympics.
The destruction of the samples caused `”damage to Russia's international interests, significant damage to the state's reputation, discrediting of the state's anti-doping policy...,” Markin said.
Meeting in Vienna, Austria Friday, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) upheld its ban on the Russian track and field federation.
If the International Olympic Committee approves the decision at its scheduled meeting on Tuesday, Russia's track and field team will not participate in the Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
The IAAF said that Russia has not done enough to restore confidence in its athletes in the wake of a doping scandal.
The Russian Ministry of Sport expressed its disappointment in a statement, saying that “’clean athletes’ dreams are being destroyed because of the reprehensible behavior of other athletes and officials. They have sacrificed years of their lives striving to compete at the Olympics and now that sacrifice looks likely to be wasted."
The ministry said it had done "everything possible" since the ban to regain the world's trust.
via Voice of America http://ift.tt/263EaA7
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