Sports

WADA completes RUSADA audit but still no access to lab

December 13, 2018
Olivier Niggli, director general of the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA), attends the WADA Symposium in Ecublens, near Lausanne, Switzerland, in this file photo. — Reuters
Olivier Niggli, director general of the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA), attends the WADA Symposium in Ecublens, near Lausanne, Switzerland, in this file photo. — Reuters

LAUSANNE — The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said on Wednesday it had completed an audit of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) as required following the tainted body's conditional reinstatement.

Over two days a three-person WADA delegation inspected the premises, processes and practices of RUSADA and will file a report highlighting any issues.

Details of the audit were not made public.

WADA director general Olivier Niggli described the audit as an important step along the way to RUSADA again becoming a fully trusted anti-doping partner.

But a major hurdle still must be cleared with RUSADA yet to allow WADA inspectors into the former Moscow laboratory and access the Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) and underlying data.

WADA has set a Dec. 31 deadline for RUSADA to meet the condition or once again be found non-compliant and face even tougher sanctions laid out in the International Standard for Code Compliance by Signatories.

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

WADA readmitted RUSADA in September, angering sports bodies around the globe, but said a failure to allow access to the Moscow laboratory would lead to a renewed ban.

"A huge amount of good work has been going on behind the scenes to ensure RUSADA has the level of expertise, good practice and independence required," said Niggli in a statement.

"Establishing a strong RUSADA is very important for clean sport."

Sport England to fund

200 new parkrun events

Sport England has announced a 3 million pounds ($3.80 million) investment to create 200 new parkrun events in the country over the next three years to increase participation among women and people from lower socioeconomic groups.

Parkrun allows more than 800 communities in Britain to host free, "socially-focussed" 5km running events every weekend in public areas of open space.

Since parkrun's inception as a low-key local event in 2004, 1.8 million people in Britain have participated in what now number almost 600 events held for all ages on Saturdays and a further 256 2k junior parkruns for 4 to 14-year-olds on Sundays.

The events have been supported by around 250,000 volunteers and have been widely praised for their contribution to improved public health.

"This important partnership with parkrun is part of Sport England's ongoing strategy to help grow new and innovative sporting ideas and broaden their reach into the demographics in society who are least likely to be active," Sport England chief executive Tim Hollingsworth said in a statement.

"The funding will enable parkrun to reach females and people on a low income, who are less likely to be active than the general population."

Sport England invests up to 300 million pounds each year to encourage projects that help people add a sporting activity to their lifestyle. The funding will boost parkrun's digital platform for registrations, results and event information.

"We know from our research that cost and a lack of local opportunities are real barriers in stopping people being more active, and what parkrun does brilliantly is offer free, community-based events for all abilities," Hollingsworth added.

Parkrun events have seen a phenomenal growth over the last decade as they currently operate in 20 countries across five continents, with around 200,000 people taking part and a further 20,000 volunteering every week.— Reuters


December 13, 2018
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