The report added that over 1,000 athletes – in summer, winter and Paralympic competitions – benefited from the alleged plot to conceal positive doping tests.
“We are now able to confirm a cover-up that dates back until at least 2011 and continued after the Sochi Olympic Games. It was a cover-up that evolved from uncontrolled chaos to an institutionalized and disciplined medal-winning conspiracy,” McLaren said at a news conference, as cited by Reuters.
McLaren added that WADA had access to only a small part of the documents related to the allegations and “the picture isn’t full yet,” but said that “the situation is critical.”
In mid-July, the first part of the report focused on the allegation that the Russian Ministry of Sport took part in swapping test samples in Moscow, also claiming that the Federal Security Service (FSB) assisted in the alleged plot.
However, the report was unable to indicate how the FSB managed to open the bottles with samples.
The probe was based on accusations made in the New York Times by Grigory Rodchenkov, the former head of the under-fire Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory. McLaren called Rodchenkov a “credible and truthful person.”
Rodchenkov is due in court in Russia on charges of abuse of authority.
Following the release of the report, the body had advised that Russian athletes be banned from competing at large-scale international events, including the 2016 Rio Olympics and the Paralympic Games. This led to a near-blanket ban on the Russian track and field team, as well as a total ban on the Russian Paralympic team.
The second part of the McLaren report contains nothing new, only unsubstantiated accusations, said Russian State Duma MP and president of the Russian Curling Federation Dmitry Svishchev, as cited by R-Sport.
“Just what we expected. We didn’t hear anything new. Unfounded accusations against us all. If you’re Russian, you are demonized. However, I can’t grasp what WADA wants to achieve. Either they want Russia to be excluded from the world sports family, or they want to really put things right [everywhere], Russia included. To do that, they should start with themselves,” the official said.
“We will defend our rights in all courts, we won’t make peace with this defamation. We admit we have our issues, but there is no need to demonize us,” he added.
McLaren report claims samples of 12 Russian Sochi medalists were tampered with
10 December 2016
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The doping test samples of 12 Russian medalists from the Sochi Olympics in 2014 were tampered with, according to claims made in the second part of a WADA-commissioned report, authored by Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren.
