Olympic ban possible for Russia ahead of 2018 Winter Olympics

Russia’s hopes for competing in the 2018 Winter Olympics are uncertain following a ruling made today by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

WADA has ruled the country still non-compliant and refused to lift its suspension of Moscow’s national anti-doping operation on Thursday, November 16th.

WADA’s Board declared the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) non-compliant in November 2015, following widespread doping in Russian athletes. Since then, the agency has been working with RUSADA to build an anti-doping program in Russia.

Russia was given a “Roadmap to Code Compliance” which outlines the criteria they have to meet to have the suspension lifted.

3 months to go until @PyeongChang2018🇰🇷❄️#WinterOlympics pic.twitter.com/K8Ax89ZetO

— Olympics (@Olympics) November 9, 2017

Russia failed to meet two major criteria ahead of meeting with the board today:

• That the responsible authorities for anti-doping in Russia must publically accept the reported outcomes of the McLaren Investigation.
• That the Russian Government must provide access for appropriate entities to the stored samples and electronic data in the Moscow Laboratory. These are sealed off due to a federal investigation.

One of the best things about the Olympic Games is that it brings us all together. #OlympicTruce @PyeongChang2018 #Olympics @UN pic.twitter.com/y0yfNjhGvK

— Olympics (@Olympics) November 13, 2017

WADA did report that RUSADA had made great progress with the roadmap, however, the two remaining criteria are considered too important to lift the suspension.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will ultimately make the decision on whether or not Russia will be barred from competing in the upcoming Olympics, or if their athletes will be required to compete under a neutral banner.

Kuwait, Equatorial Guinea and Mauritius were also declared non-compliant at the WADA meeting.