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Reedie wrote to Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko two weeks after
a German WADA official was threatened with deportation by
Russia's FSB intelligence service for trying to test a
Paralympic athlete in the closed city of Tryokhgorny, according
to a report in the Times of London.
"These kinds of actions are totally unacceptable and full access
to these 'closed cities' must be guaranteed," Reedie told the
Times. The term refers to towns where Russia restricts the
movements of foreigners because they are home to national
security installations.
WADA suspended Russia from taking part in athletic events after
an investigation revealed a large-scale, state-sponsored doping
program.
Reedie, who has been criticized in some media for appearing to
take a soft line towards Moscow on the issue, said Russia was
dragging its feet over improving its anti-doping system and
ruled out compliance in time for the Rio Olympics, which start
in August.
"We are having to deal very firmly with a never-ending set of
issues in Russia."
"I think it highly unlikely they will be compliant by the time
of the Olympic Games. Our roadmap could take two years to
implement at the current rate," he said.
(Reporting by Shravanth Vijayakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by
Richard Balmforth)
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