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Meldonium was added to WADA's list of banned substances on
Jan. 1, 2016, with athletes around the world being informed of
the decision in the autumn of 2015.
Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko, who had recently said 40
Russian sportsmen and women failed dope tests for meldonium,
including tennis player Maria Sharapova and swimmer Yulia
Efimova, welcomed the decision by the world body.
"The Russian Sports Ministry supports and welcomes the decision
made by WADA because it has showed a willingness to understand
the situation, rather than stick to the rulebook," Mutko said in
a statement on Wednesday.
"They were ready to study how long it would take for meldonium
to be eliminated from the body of an athlete.
"... WADA has demonstrated impartiality and being objective in
the fight against doping."
Alexei Kravtsov, the president of the Russian Skaing Union
(RSU), said that five-time World Champion Pavel Kulizhnikov and
2014 Olympic short track gold medalist Semen Elistratov -- both
found to have taken meldonium -- should be allowed to compete
again after the WADA decision.
"These sportsmen should be allowed to fall under the amnesty due
to the amount found in their doping tests," Kravtsov was quoted
as saying by the R-Sport news agency.
"They were not guilty, as we had been saying earlier. This is of
course good news, but there is still a bit of a cloud hanging
over all of this."
(Editing by Sudipto Ganguly)
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