WADA to make decision on Russia on Jan. 22

WADA to make decision on Russia on Jan. 22
FILE PHOTO: A photographer takes pictures of a sign outside the office of Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) in Moscow, Russia September 20, 2018. REUTERS/Maxim Shemetov Copyright MAXIM SHEMETOV(Reuters)
Copyright MAXIM SHEMETOV(Reuters)
By Reuters
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(Reuters) - The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) executive committee will take up a recommendation on Jan. 22 regarding Russia's failure to turn over data from a Moscow laboratory by a Dec. 31 deadline, it said on Saturday.

WADA's Compliance Review Committee (CRC) will offer that recommendation by Thursday after meeting members of a WADA inspection team in Montreal on Monday and Tuesday.

It could recommend that the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) has met its obligations and confirm its conditional compliance or that the Russian agency should be ruled non-compliant and face new sanctions.

The Dec. 31 deadline was a key condition of WADA's September decision to reinstate RUSADA.

RUSADA was suspended in 2015 after a WADA-commissioned report outlined evidence of state-backed, systematic doping in Russian athletics, allegations Moscow has denied.

After much stalling, Russian authorities finally allowed a WADA inspection team into the tainted Moscow laboratory to retrieve data on Wednesday.

A five-member inspection team was sent home from Moscow last month without the extracted data after Russian authorities said the team's equipment was not certified under Russian law.

Once WADA is in possession of the data Russian authorities must also ensure that any re-analysis of samples is completed by no later than June 30.

WADA said on Saturday its executive committee members had requested until Thursday to review the CRC recommendation and to consult their stakeholders.

WADA will publicly communicate the executive committee's decision following a Jan. 22 conference call.

Travis Tygart, chief executive officer of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, has called for Russia to be declared non-compliant until testing is completed even if Russia does hand over doping data.

(Reporting by Gene Cherry in Raleigh, North Carolina; editing by Clare Fallon)

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