Doping of kids is evil: Wada Chief

BEIJING • World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) president Witold Banka said he wanted the Russian authorities to change the country's doping culture and conduct a thorough investigation into teenage figure skater Kamila Valieva's entourage, with any culprits to be banned for life.

The 15-year-old prodigy was cleared yesterday to compete in the singles event at the Beijing Olympics today by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) after a failed drug test last December, although CAS, sport's highest court, did not rule on the doping case.

She had led Russia to the team gold last Monday, becoming the first woman to land a quadruple jump in Olympic competition.

But the medal ceremony was postponed after it was belatedly discovered that her urine sample from the Russian national championships on Dec 25 had tested positive for trimetazidine, a heart medication that could increase endurance.

Hours after the CAS ruling, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) took the extraordinary step of serving notice that it will not conduct an awards ceremony or hand out medals in any event she wins until her case is resolved, on the grounds that she is an athlete with a positive test on her record.

The CAS cleared Valieva to continue competing in Beijing, saying it would be unfair and cause "irreparable harm" to her if she were barred from the competition.

The IOC, Wada and International Skating Union had asked the CAS panel to reinstate a suspension that would have kept her out of action in Beijing. The CAS panel only ruled on whether the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (Rusada) acted improperly when it lifted a suspension of Valieva only one day after imposing it last Tuesday.

It was not charged with deciding whether Russia should keep the gold in the team competition nor did it consider the question of whether Valieva was guilty of knowingly using a banned drug.

CAS emphasised that "there were serious issues of untimely notification" of the test result but noted that "such late notification was not her fault".

It also highlighted that because she is just 15, she is recognised as "a protected person" under certain anti-doping rules. Therefore, her case will be assessed under different standards of evidence, and she would face lesser penalties, if any, than adults would.

The people more likely to face punishment would be any of her coaches, trainers and medical personnel who might have known about her use of the drug, or who might have provided it to her.

Wada sent a strong warning to those people, with Banka telling Reuters: "The doping of children is evil and unforgivable, and the doctors, coaches and other support personnel who are found to have provided performance-enhancing drugs to minors should be banned for life, and personally I also think that they should be in prison."

The case is now in the hands of Rusada, which has to set up a hearing to decide on Valieva's fate. If Wada is not satisfied with Rusada's report, it can appeal to the CAS.

"We demand that Rusada completes a strong investigation into the entourage. We will also look into that and make sure that a proper investigation is carried out," said Banka.

For now, though, there is vindication in the Russian ranks. Russian sports minister Oleg Matytsin welcomed "the only right and fair decision", adding: "I consider it important that the CAS arbitrators showed integrity, professionalism and carefully considered all the circumstances of the case."

Russian athletes are competing under the Russian Olympic Committee banner at the Games because of their poor doping track record.

Banka also said the country's sports culture needed to change.

He added: "We still have the old generation of coaches and doctors who are working with the minors, with the athletes, so it's our strong demand that... the Russian ministry of sports change this situation."

REUTERS, NYTIMES