MONTREAL — The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) director general told AFP Wednesday that the organization will "be vigilant" in monitoring Russian athletes ahead of the next Olympic Games, promising reassurance to competitors from other countries.
In a controversial decision last month, the International Olympic Committee opened the way for Russian athletes to compete at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Years before Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, WADA uncovered what it termed a massive state-backed Russian doping campaign at the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi.
"We're not naive," WADA director general Olivier Niggli told AFP at the agency's headquarters in Montreal.
"We're going to be vigilant because other athletes will be looking for reassurance," he added.
Niggli stressed that there remains no accredited drug-testing lab in Russia, meaning all samples from any Olympic hopeful will be analyzed abroad.
"They can no longer do their internal cooking the way they did in Sochi. At the moment, that's not possible," Niggli said.
He cited an IOC request to bolster the testing system for Russian athletes, including multiple tests for any Russian national likely to qualify for LA 2028.
The Sochi doping scandal led to Russia's flag, anthem and other national symbols being banned from the Tokyo Games, held in 2021 because of the pandemic, and at the Beijing Winter Games in 2022.
WADA President Witold Banka told AFP the ongoing Ukraine conflict made it impossible for the agency to even consider reinstating Russia's national anti-doping lab.
"RUSADA (the Russian Anti-Doping Agency) remains non-compliant with the code. To check whether they are compliant or not, we need to do the audit, an in-person audit in Moscow.
"Because of the political situation and the war, it was impossible to do it," he said.
The IOC's Russia ban was imposed in October 2023 when the Russian Olympic Committee decided to include sports organizations in territories Moscow had annexed as members.
The IOC's July decision will allow Russian athletes, albeit under strict conditions, to compete in team events and qualifying competitions for the Games.
Ukraine has slammed the IOC's decision, accusing it of "playing into the hands of a bloody aggressor".