Moscow Doping Lab Inspected; Boxer Wants Rio Return

Council of Europe Inspects Moscow Anti-Doping Lab - Sports Minister

A visit by members of the Council of Europe to Moscow's under-fire anti-doping laboratory has nothing to do with threats from the World Anti-Doping Agency to revoke its license, Russia's sports minister said Wednesday.

WADA last month ordered the Moscow Anti-Doping Center, which will process drugs tests at February's Winter Olympics in Sochi, to hire independent experts "to ensure the complete integrity of all analysis" after expressing doubts as to its objectivity.

It gave the lab until December 1 to start the process or risk losing its accreditation; it remains unclear if any new personnel have been appointed.

Meanwhile, independent experts from the Council of Europe began an inspection at the lab this week that bears no relation to the WADA controversy, Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said.

"The arrival of the Council of Europe commission has nothing to do with the Olympic Games in Sochi, because this (inspection) is along different lines that do not relate to the IOC or WADA," Mutko said.

The visit, Mutko said, was part of a mandatory periodical inspection under a UNESCO anti-doping convention that Russia ratified in 2006.

"They are checking all European countries for their adherence to the demands of WADA and to the charter that we ratified," Mutko said.

Commenting on the results he expected from the Council of Europe inspection, Mutko said: "I am confident that everything will be on a good level because Russia over the last four years has done simply colossal work in the fight against doping."

The anti-doping center opened in August and handled drug testing for the world athletics championships that month. WADA has insisted that three must be a minimum of three international experts on the center’s staff to avoid a six-month suspension.

When asked by R-Sport whether it planned to take any action of its own, the International Olympic Committee said in e-mailed comments: ""The IOC is confident that all the necessary measures will be taken and the Sochi lab will be fully functioning during the Games."

The laboratory is due to operate an on-site satellite facility in Sochi during the February 7-23 Olympics.

There have been reports that the laboratory’s director Grigory Rodchenkov was once arrested in connection with the supply of banned substances.

In August, WADA suspended a Rio de Janeiro laboratory that was to handle testing for next year’s football World Cup. Samples from the tournament will be tested in Lausanne, Switzerland, instead.

Boxer Povetkin Tipped for 2016 Olympic Return

Russian heavyweight boxer Alexander Povetkin could make a rare return to the amateur ranks to aim for a second Olympic gold medal in 2016, the head coach of Russia’s national team told R-Sport on Tuesday.

Povetkin lost to Wladimir Klitschko in a world title fight in October that had one of the biggest purses in the history of professional boxing at $23.3 million.

Since then, Povetkin has spoken of his nostalgia for his 2004 Olympic super-heavyweight gold medal run and desire to compete in 2016, when he would fit under the newly-raised age limit of 40.

National team coach Alexander Lebzyak, an Olympic champion himself, said he "had a positive attitude" about the possibility of Povetkin returning to amateur status. "But now it’s hard to say how to go about it in practical terms," he added.

Had Povetkin fought at last month’s Russian amateur championships, "he would have spilled quite a bit of blood against a lot of guys," said Lebzyak, who added that he and Povetkin "have been friends over many years."

Povetkin’s unanimous points loss to Klitschko dropped the previously undefeated 34-year-old to a 26-1 career professional record. Before turning pro in 2005, he was 125-7 as an amateur.

Published by exclusive arrangement with Around the Rings’ Sochi 2014 media partner RIA-Novosti.

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