World Anti-Doping Agency director general David Howman delivers a keynote speech during the International Anti-Doming Seminar in Asia and Oceania in Tokyo on January 28, 2016. (AFP Photo)
Tokyo, Japan:
The chief of the world's anti-doping organisation said Thursday it could take months before Russia re-establishes a credible anti-doping body following allegations of state involvement in the practice.
Russia was banned from international competitions by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) in November after a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) independent commission found evidence of "state-sponsored" doping in the country
The country's anti-doping body RUSADA was declared non-compliant by WADA after it was discovered that positive drug tests had been covered up and samples destroyed.
"We are asking Russian authorities to re-establish a new agency with proper people in charge," David Howman, WADA director general, told AFP in an interview on the sidelines of a seminar in Tokyo.
"It could take months," Howman said. "I have no idea."
WADA has also requested that an independent international expert join the new board of RUSADA.
UK Anti-Doping, Britain's anti-doping body, has offered to send experts to Russia to drug-testing programmes across all sports in Russia.
For now, doping testing in Russia "will be run by RUSADA but under the monitoring of UK Anti-Doping, and we'll see how it goes," Howman told AFP.
Russia must "ensure that they have experienced people who can run the programme themselves, and they need more doping control officers," he said, adding that that will require training.
"They need to have managers in charge of the programme who know" how, when and where to conduct anti-doping measures, he said.
Howman also said that whether Russian athletes can participate in the Olympics is "not our decision" but one to be made by the International Olympic Committee.
Earlier in a keynote speech at the seminar attended by some 200 sports officials, Howman called doping the biggest challenge facing sport despite other ills such as reports of match-fixing scandals in tennis.
"Doping is still the king," he said regarding its significance as an ethical issue.
"Doping, like no other issue, hits athletes where (it) hurts," he said, referring to their quest for glory and gold medals.
Efforts to root out foul play in sport have special significance for Tokyo as it prepares to host to 2020 Olympics, he said.
"You must ensure that the clean athletes prevail when attention turns to Tokyo," Howman said in the speech, calling for all who dope to be excluded from competition at the 2020 Games.
"The public want to see fair play in action. We want to see everyone playing true."
Last month, Shin Asakawa, the Japan Anti-Doping Agency's chief executive officer, promised round-the-clock efforts to make sure the Tokyo Games won't be "sabotaged" by drugs cheats.
"We are confident of a clean Tokyo 2020," he said in an interview with AFP.
Russia was banned from international competitions by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) in November after a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) independent commission found evidence of "state-sponsored" doping in the country
The country's anti-doping body RUSADA was declared non-compliant by WADA after it was discovered that positive drug tests had been covered up and samples destroyed.
"We are asking Russian authorities to re-establish a new agency with proper people in charge," David Howman, WADA director general, told AFP in an interview on the sidelines of a seminar in Tokyo.
"It could take months," Howman said. "I have no idea."
WADA has also requested that an independent international expert join the new board of RUSADA.
UK Anti-Doping, Britain's anti-doping body, has offered to send experts to Russia to drug-testing programmes across all sports in Russia.
For now, doping testing in Russia "will be run by RUSADA but under the monitoring of UK Anti-Doping, and we'll see how it goes," Howman told AFP.
Russia must "ensure that they have experienced people who can run the programme themselves, and they need more doping control officers," he said, adding that that will require training.
"They need to have managers in charge of the programme who know" how, when and where to conduct anti-doping measures, he said.
Howman also said that whether Russian athletes can participate in the Olympics is "not our decision" but one to be made by the International Olympic Committee.
Earlier in a keynote speech at the seminar attended by some 200 sports officials, Howman called doping the biggest challenge facing sport despite other ills such as reports of match-fixing scandals in tennis.
"Doping is still the king," he said regarding its significance as an ethical issue.
"Doping, like no other issue, hits athletes where (it) hurts," he said, referring to their quest for glory and gold medals.
Efforts to root out foul play in sport have special significance for Tokyo as it prepares to host to 2020 Olympics, he said.
"You must ensure that the clean athletes prevail when attention turns to Tokyo," Howman said in the speech, calling for all who dope to be excluded from competition at the 2020 Games.
"The public want to see fair play in action. We want to see everyone playing true."
Last month, Shin Asakawa, the Japan Anti-Doping Agency's chief executive officer, promised round-the-clock efforts to make sure the Tokyo Games won't be "sabotaged" by drugs cheats.
"We are confident of a clean Tokyo 2020," he said in an interview with AFP.
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