A case was opened against the former director of the Moscow anti-doping laboratory

by time news

The Investigative Committee of Russia (TFR) has opened a criminal case against the former director of the Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory for abuse of power, the IC said in a statement.

As the Investigative Committee clarifies, the case was initiated based on the results of a pre-investigation check on materials published in the media containing Rodchenkov’s interviews, and on the materials of the WADA information check received from the Prosecutor General’s Office. Rodchenkov recently told The New York Times that in Sochi, Russian athletes took doping with alcohol, and after the performances, the Olympians’ urine samples taken for analysis were secretly replaced by sports officials with clean ones.

The preliminary investigation established that WADA, in connection with the investigation, on December 9, 2014 sent a letter to the Moscow Anti-Doping Center addressed to Rodchenkov, so that all samples stored at that time in the laboratory, collected within three months, starting from September 10, 2014, were frozen and stored until further notice. WADA requested confirmation in writing of receipt of the letter.

According to the IC, Grigory Rodchenkov responded to WADA on December 10, 2014, confirming the receipt of the letter and assuring that all samples were safely stored. Despite this, on December 12, 2014, Rodchenkov gave an oral instruction to the head of the registration and accounting department of biological assays E.G. Kudryavtsev, obligatory for all employees of the enterprise, to dispose of 1437 biological assays stored at that time in the laboratory, 222 of which were stored for less than three months from the date issuance of conclusions on the results of analyzes. Kudryavtsev and his subordinate employees of the department on the same day disposed of these bioassays. According to the Investigative Committee, in this way Rodchenkov tried to hide the shortcomings and irregularities in his activities and thereby retain his leadership position.

“Thus, according to the investigation, Rodchenkov used his powers against the legitimate interests of the above organization and in order to derive benefits and advantages for himself, which entailed significant harm to rights and legitimate interests,” the words of the IC official representative Vladimir Markin are quoted in the message. This also led to a violation of the WADA directive on the storage of bioassays, which was the basis for initiating disciplinary proceedings against the laboratory and depriving it of international accreditation.

“Also, Rodchenkov’s actions caused significant harm to the interests of the state protected by law – violation of the international interests of the Russian Federation, causing significant reputational damage to the state, discrediting the state’s anti-doping policy, depriving the international accreditation of the laboratory (FSUE ADC), created at the expense of the federal budget,” writes the UK …

In early June, the German TV channel ARD accused the head of the Russian Ministry of Sports Vitaly Mutko of helping athletes to hide positive doping tests. The film “The Secret Doping Case: X-Hour for Russia” by German journalist Hayo Zeppelt aired on 8 June. The charges were based on the text of a letter from the former head of the Moscow anti-doping laboratory, Grigory Rodchenkov.

Rodchenkov claims that Russian athletes who tested positive for doping bribed the IAAF in the amount of $ 500,000 at the London Olympics. “A lot of money was spent to hide the positive results. Certain people were busy swapping positive samples. I know this from the London Olympics. Then it cost up to $ 500,000 to “free” a doping athlete – for one person. The athlete gave money to the coach. And in Russia there is a person who then transferred money to the IAAF. This is the sale of doping test results, “R-sport quoted Rodchenkov as saying.

On Friday it became known that the Council of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) at a meeting in Vienna decided not to renew the membership of the All-Russian Athletics Federation (ARAF). This means that Russian athletes will not be able to take part in the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

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