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 The commission, set up by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), found
a "deeply rooted culture of cheating" in Russian athletics, which it
said Russian state security services colluded with, and also
identified what it called systemic failures in the global governing
body, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF).
At one point, the commission said, the WADA-accredited anti-doping
laboratory in Moscow destroyed 1,417 samples shortly before an
inspection. "This was done on a Saturday morning immediately prior
to the arrival in Moscow of a WADA audit team," the report said.
Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said there was no evidence for
the accusations against the Russian Athletics Federation, and that
the samples had been destroyed at WADA's request.
IAAF President Sebastian Coe said he was alarmed and surprised by
the scale of the revelations, which come days after the IAAF's
long-time president, Lamine Diack, was accused by the IAAF of
concealing a Russian athlete's doping violations.
"These are dark days," said Coe, Diack's successor. He gave Russia
until the end of the week to respond to the accusations, and said
the IAAF Council would then discuss possible sanctions.
Dick Pound, the head of the commission that produced the report and
a former president of WADA, referred to a corruption scandal now
shaking soccer's governing body, FIFA.
"I hope all sports will look at their governance and their
anti-doping systems because their existence may be at risk," he told
a news conference. "Public opinion is going to move towards the view
that all sport is corrupt."
The report said the presence of Russian security services in the
Moscow anti-doping laboratory "actively imposed an atmosphere of
intimidation on laboratory process and staff".
GLOBAL INVESTIGATION
The international police body Interpol said it would coordinate a
global investigation into suspected corruption and doping in
athletics.
Some believe the scandal could have bigger ramifications than the
graft affair at FIFA, where president Sepp Blatter has been
suspended, 14 officials and marketing executives have been indicted,
and Switzerland is investigating the awarding of two World Cups: to
Russia in 2018 and Qatar in 2022.
The commission said in its report that the London Olympics in 2012
had in effect been "sabotaged" by the widespread inaction of
national anti-doping authorities and the sport's governing body.
"For 2016, our recommendation is that the Russian Federation be
suspended," Pound said. "In fact, one of our hopes is that they will
volunteer that, so that they can take the remedial work in time to
make sure that Russian athletes can compete under a new framework."
Russia finished second behind the United States in athletics at the
2012 Olympics, with 17 medals, eight of them gold, and has long been
one of the chief players in track and field.
In one sense at least, the scandal could prove more compromising
than the FIFA affair. There has never been any suggestion that FIFA
corruption has affected results on the pitch, at the World Cup, for
example.
"It's worse than we thought, It has the effect of factually
affecting the results on the field of play and athletes, both in
Russia and abroad, are suffering as a result," Pound said. "It may
be a residue of the old Soviet system ... they must stop it and make
a new start."
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"I hope they'll say this is an opportunity to get rid of the old
system, get rid of the old coaches, and change their ways. If they
(Russia) do the surgery, and do the therapy, I hope they can get
there (the Rio Olympics) and compete."
A decision to suspend Russia could be taken only by the IAAF.
INFLUX OF MONEY
The acting president of the Russian Athletics Federation (ARAF),
Vadim Zelichenok, told Reuters by telephone: "It is only a
recommendation ... But I cannot say if the IAAF will follow this."
Corruption has infected many sports. The International Olympic
Committee was hit by a scandal 15 years ago, while cricket and
cycling have also been tainted.
The reach of graft in global sport might in part be explained by a
huge influx of sponsorship in recent decades into bodies lacking
effective governance and supervisory procedures. That financial
backing could now be put at risk.
"I think the credibility of sport has taken some fairly serious body
blows in the last few months, with FIFA and its particular forms of
corruption and now the IAAF, and these are two of the most important
sports in the world," Pound said.
IAAF president Coe said he had already "urged the IAAF Council to
start the process of considering sanctions against ARAF (the Russian
federation)."
"This step has not been taken lightly," he added.
The report recommended lifetime bans for five athletes, four coaches
and one doctor, all Russian. They included the women's 800 metres
Olympic champion Mariya Savinova and the bronze medallist, Ekaterina
Poistogova.
Last week, French authorities placed Lamine Diack under formal
investigation on suspicion of taking over 1 million euros ($1.09
million) in 2011 to cover up positive doping tests by Russian
athletes.
IAAF's Ethics Commission also accused Diack, two senior Russian
athletics officials and a former director of the IAAF’s Anti-Doping
Department of concealing doping violations by Russian athlete Liliya
Shobukhova.
The suppression of drug test results in return for bribes would make
a mockery of the huge investment by world athletics in technical
measures to detect drug use and ensure fairness.
Coe told Reuters in an interview that the IAAF had tested more than
5,000 athletes since 2009: proof, he said, that the organisation was
serious about making the sport clean.
(Writing by Brian Homewood; additional reporting by Mitch Phillips
and Dmitry Rogovitsky; Editing by Ralph Boulton and Kevin Liffey)
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