Russian pranksters call heads of WADA,
U.S. anti-doping agency
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[July 23, 2016]
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian media
published on Friday calls by two comedians to the heads of the World
Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA)
pretending to be Ukrainian Sports Minister Ihor Zhdanov.
Pranskters Vladimir Kuznetsov and Alexei Stolyarov separately called
WADA President Craig Reedie and USADA chief executive Travis Tygart,
according to recordings published online by Sputnik, a Russian
state-owned news agency.
Sputnik said the two callers "managed to trick" the two anti-doping
officials "into revealing the truth behind the doping scandal". They
made the calls for a comedy show on Russia's NTV channel, which was
shown on Friday evening.
WADA said it was aware of the "scam".
"The agency was targeted given the high profile of anti-doping just
now," a spokeswoman said in an email.
"It involved Russian phone pranksters impersonating Ukraine's minister
of sport and engaging the true WADA president [Reedie] on topics related
to anti-doping and impersonating the WADA president and engaging
Ukraine's true minister of sport."
There was no immediate response from USADA.
Publishing the calls ahead of the program, Sputnik said they had been
made on May 28, before the results of a WADA-backed investigation into
doping allegations were published.
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Kuznetsov asked Reedie whether he thought the results of the 2014
Sochi Winter Olympics should be revised in light of the doping
scandal. Reedie said that he didn't yet see proof of Russia's
wrong-doing and advised the caller, believing him to be Zhdanov, to
await the results of the investigation.
Stolyarov also asked Tygart whether Sochi biathlon results should be
revised, resulting in Ukrainians gaining medals awarded to Russians.
Tygart said that this could potentially happen, but also said this
would depend on the investigation.
President Vladimir Putin and his allies have deftly deflected the
blame for the scandal by passing it off as a western Cold War-style
plot to sabotage Russia's international comeback.
Kuznetsov and Stolyarov have a history of making embarrassing calls
to celebrities, notably British singer Elton John, who spoke to them
last September believing he was speaking to Putin.
(Reporting by Jason Bush, Gene Cherry; Editing by Bernard Orr)
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