| Rain of samples Falls on Doping Laboratories 2017-02-17 |
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29.01.2015
According to the calculations of Dr. Ágnes Tiszeker the WADA investigation which hits Russian sport may cost immense amounts.
While national anti-doping institutions – the Hungarian Anti-Doping Group within them – are trying to carry out their work in compliance with the WADA Code of 1 January, a group of three independent experts is trying to investigate the infamous “Russian case”, with the commission of the Montreal headquarters of anti-doping activities. As it is well-known, last December ARD, the German television company reported in a documentary that hundreds of samples had not been examined in Russia – with the awareness of the relevant state leaders -, meanwhile corrupt persons working in the field of sports, doctors among them, received some illegal ‘contributions‘ by committing blackmail in order to cover up the athletes who had been caught.
The latest events threatening with the danger of an avalanche had resulted in the fact that the Russian national sport management asked the World Anti-Doping Organization (WADA) for the repetition of the analysis of 3000 previously taken samples.
“I have to begin by stating that there has never been such a great request to WADA from any countries since its existence. The samples have already been sent off to the laboratories in Lausanne and Cologne, and it is possible that other laboratories are also going to be involved as the capacities are limited “, commented Dr. Ágnes Tiszeker, the head of HUNADO to the Sports News Service of Telecom. Several months will have passed before the sudden orders will be completed, with the knowledge that the documentation of the repeated tests and the appeals will most likely end up at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The repeated analyses will be expected to be expanded to testing EPO and growth hormones, in which case the individual expense may be at least 400 Euros per test sample. This will already cost over a million Euros, not mentioning the serious fees of experts and lawyers. All of this will be covered by WADA in the first round, but if it is proven that everything was organised and happened intentionally, the bill will land, together with the considerable sum of the penalty, in Russia. Heads are already falling in Russia, but I feel that the avalanche will begin when the results of the analyses are known. Russian athletes, swimmers and skiers are in great trouble. The final outcome we can expect is similar to what happened in the International Federation of Cycling and the organisers of large events following the Armstrong case. If the Russians want to be at the 2016 Olympics, they have to make drastic changes, begin honest talk, without the cheeky explanations which did not only upset their enemies but the leadership of WADA as well. “
The head of the committee in front of the difficult task is Dick Pound, the founding president of WADA. One of his associates is Richard McLaren from Canada, too, who has assisted in the solution of several debatable cases as the member of CAS, the Court of Arbitration for Sport, another is the German Günter Younger, who is known to be one of the most respectable experts of IT crimes. As Dr. Ágnes Tiszeker also added, in the months coming up – approaching the beginning of the Olympic events of Rio – a smaller army of experts will be investigating and trying to prepare a report, which not even the cleverest Russian lawyers will be able to challenge.
Peter Szalay, Telekom Sport News Service
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