WADA Chief Vows to Defend Decision on Banning Russia in Court of Arbitration for Sport

The general meeting of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) decided on Tuesday to disagree with WADA's decision to label the Russian agency as non-compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code and to suspend Russian athletes for four years from competing in major international competitions under the national flag. The case is now to be considered by CAS.

“WADA remains convinced that it made the right decision on 9 December. The proposed consequences are tough on the Russian authorities while robustly protecting the integrity of clean sport around the world. We will defend that decision with the utmost vigour at CAS,” Reedie said on late Friday, as quoted by WADA’s statement.

Earlier, WADA said that it had received a notification from the Russian Anti-Doping Agency about its disagreement with the sanctions of the WADA Executive Committee on December 9, the agency added that the dispute would be submitted to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in the near future.

On Friday, RUSADA Director-General Yury Ganus said he had sent WADA a notice of disagreement with the verdict of the agency’s Executive Committee and a letter in which he expressed his position.

On December 9, WADA banned Russia from hosting and competing in major international sporting events for four years after it allegedly manipulated laboratory data handed over to the agency's investigator.