RUSADA chief ouster threatens fresh int’l rift

MOSCOW: Russia dismissed the head of RUSADA, its national anti-doping agency, on Friday in a move that threatens to further strain the country’s relations on the global sporting stage.
Publicly critical of some sports officials for their inaction in tackling Russia’s doping crisis, Yuri Ganus had been appointed to head RUSADA as it mounted a push to be reinstated by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). The appointment of a new director had been a condition for the reinstatement.
Yet his dismissal as director general of RUSADA came after Russia’s Olympic Committee — one of the agency’s founders along with the Paralympic Committee — accused him of presiding over serious financial violations. Ganus denied the allegations.
Ganus portrayed the accusations against him as an attempt to undermine RUSADA’s efforts to rebuild international trust in Russia’s anti-doping system.
WADA and other global sports bodies expressed concern earlier this month when RUSADA’s supervisory board recommended Ganus be fired, stressing that the independence of anti-doping agencies was paramount. WADA said it was concerned by Ganus’s dismissal and was in contact with RUSADA and the Russian authorities to seek clarification. (Reuters)