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Competition records show that Russian amateur
boxers Islam Dashaev and Alena Tokarchuk fought in official
tournaments last year despite bans announced by Russian
anti-doping agency RUSADA, which is forbidden under
international anti-doping rules.
These lapses in the enforcement of their bans suggest that
Russia, which says it has moved past its doping scandals, has
yet to create an anti-doping culture in which all dopers are
sidelined.
RUSADA said it had been unaware of the cases and said, after
Reuters asked about them, that it would investigate.
"We do not know the reasons why these suspended athletes took
part in competitions that were held under the Russian Boxing
Federation's jurisdiction and with its support," RUSADA Deputy
Director General Margarita Pakhnotskaya said in a statement to
Reuters.
"The fact such athletes participated in competitions is
alarming."
Reuters was unable to reach the two boxers for comment.
Valery Karadutov, an official from the Russian Boxing Federation
who oversaw one of the competitions and signed its results, said
he had not been aware of the boxer's ban.
Tatyana Kiriyenko, a deputy head of the federation, told TASS
news agency that the two boxers took part in regional
competitions.
"We have conducted an investigation, looked at the reports.
These two athletes took part in competitions, they participated
in one fight each," she is quoted as saying by TASS.
Athletes serving doping bans are forbidden from participating in
any capacity in competitions or activities related to elite
sport, according to the rules of the World Anti-Doping Agency
(WADA).
If an athlete violates a doping ban, the duration of the
suspension can be doubled.
WADA said it would follow up with RUSADA and "the relevant
international federations" to ensure they are aware of the
Reuters findings and that "the allegations are being dealt with
appropriately."
The Russian Boxing Federation said it was checking the cases
identified by Reuters and would give its assessment, without
providing a time frame.
The Russian Sports Ministry and the International Boxing
Association (AIBA) did not reply to requests for comment.
"NO INFORMATION"
Boxer Islam Dashaev received a four-year suspension in 2017 for
doping violations that included refusing a doping test, RUSADA
data shows.
But in August 2018, he boxed in the 81 kg category at a national
competition held in the city of Anapa on Russia's Black Sea
coast, winning one bout and losing another, according to
competition records.
A message to Dashaev's Facebook page went unread and there were
no available numbers for any representatives.
The local boxing federation in Anapa did not respond to a
request for comment.
RUSADA, which said the Russian Boxing Federation had been
notified of the bans of both Dashaev and Tokarchuk in a timely
manner, publishes a list of athletes serving doping suspensions
on its website.
But Russian Boxing Federation official Karadutov, who was the
technical delegate at the tournament where Dashaev fought, told
Reuters he had not been aware that the boxer was serving a
doping ban.
"This information was not communicated to me and to the chief
judge," said Karadutov, whose signature appears on every page of
the competition results. "There is no way for us to follow
this."
He said there had been nothing wrong with the paperwork filed
for Dashaev to enter the tournament, giving organisers no basis
to reject his entry. Reuters could not independently verify
Karadutov's account.
Karadutov said a list of boxers banned for doping should be
published on the federation's website "in big letters" and flash
to draw officials' attention.
"Then we'll be able to follow," he said.
THIRD PLACE
Alena Tokarchuk finished third in the 54 kg category of the
Moscow boxing championship for women born in or before 1999,
held in January and February 2018, competition records show.
But the tournament began a week after Tokarchuk's two-year ban -
from Nov. 28, 2017 to Nov. 27, 2019 - was announced by RUSADA on
Jan. 23, 2018.
A message to Tokarchuk's Facebook page went unread and there
were no available numbers for any representatives.
The Moscow Boxing Federation, whose stamp was on the competition
results, said it had not been notified that she was banned at
the time of the tournament.
Tokarchuk was suspended for testing positive for furosemide,
which is on WADA's list of prohibited diuretics and masking
agents, according to data from RUSADA.
Pakhnotskaya of RUSADA said that the number of sporting events
held across Russia was too vast for "the number and capabilities
of RUSADA employees" whose duties include monitoring suspended
athletes' compliance with their bans.
The agency was reinstated by WADA last year after having been
suspended since November 2015 over evidence of mass doping in
Russian athletics.
Reuters reported last month that two Russian athletics coaches
and one doctor banned for doping were still working with
athletes.
(Reporting by Gabrielle Tétrault-Farber; additional reporting by
Vladimir Soldatkin,; Editing by Giles Elgood and Ed Osmond)
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