LAUSANNE – The head of the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) said on March 12 that he remains sceptical and concerned about Russia’s anti-doping practices, as some of the country’s athletes prepare to compete as neutrals at the July 26-Aug 11 Paris Summer Olympics.

Speaking at the Wada Annual Symposium in Lausanne, the organisation’s president Witold Banka said he had received many questions from concerned athletes regarding the Russians who could be competing in France.

“What I can tell you is that they all remain subject to testing, they are subject to doping controls,” he said.

Banka explained that the International Testing Agency and the various international sports federations were collecting samples from athletes within Russia, as well as those training or competing overseas.

He added that Russian anti-doping agency Rusada was also conducting the required amount of testing, and that all samples were being transferred to Wada-accredited laboratories outside the country.

However, nothing is “100 per cent” certain when it concerns Russia, Banka warned.

“Despite this and given the history, Wada remains deeply sceptical and worried when it comes to Russia. We must remain vigilant and leave no stone unturned to ensure that all the proper education and testing has taken place in advance of Paris,” the 39-year-old Pole said.

Russia has for years been embroiled in doping scandals that have forced its athletes to be barred from competing under their flag and national colours.

Although the country has acknowledged some shortcomings in its anti-doping set-up, it denies running a state-sponsored doping scheme.

“You cannot be 100 per cent sure and give the guarantee that this case will never happen again,” Banka added, referring to Russia’s doping scandals.

“But I can assure you that we are much stronger equipped when it comes to how to react better to such situations.”

Athletes from other countries are fearing the worst because some Russians will be allowed to compete in Paris.

Russians and Belarusians were banned from competing internationally following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, for which Belarus has been used as a staging ground.

However, the International Olympic Committee later issued a set of recommendations for international sports federations to allow competitors from these countries to return.

The neutral Russian and Belarusian athletes will compete without flags, emblems or their countries’ national anthems.

Athletes who actively support the war in Ukraine are not eligible, nor are those contracted to the Russian or Belarusian military.

In a separate issue, athletes from Brazil, Ecuador, Peru and Portugal will face more stringent out-of-competition testing to be eligible for the Paris Olympics as their national testing programmes are not sufficient, the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) said on March 11.

The decision comes after the World Athletics Council approved the recommendations from the AIU board to impose “tougher testing requirements on those federations” before the Olympics begin.

The rigorous conditions include athletes having undergone at least three no-notice, out-of-competition tests before July 4, while each of those tests should have been conducted at least three weeks apart. REUTERS