Russian Sports Agent Rejects Doping Charges

(ATR) A sports agent in Russia maintains that his country is being unfairly singled out for anti-doping problems.

Andrey Mitkov, who represents swimmer Yulia Efimova and other Russian athletes, tells Around the Rings that the latest report from WADA Independent Reporter Richard McLaren is as flawed as the first one issued in July.

The second report asserts that since 2011, more than 1,000 Russian athletes in 30 Olympic sports benefited from an anti-doping program that McLaren says was corrupted with subterfuge and manipulation. The primary source of the claims is Dr. Gregor Rodchenkov, former director of the Moscow Anti-Doping Lab, who turned whistleblower to the New York Times in May. Rodchenko, now residing in the U.S., alleges he supervised the substitution of test samples from Russian competitors at the Sochi Olympics. He says this was accomplished by sneaking samples through a hidden hole in the wall of the Sochi lab.

Miitkov disputes the credibility of Rodchenko, a point of view shared by others in Russia who are trying to defend the reputation of the country’s sport program

"How is it possible to make so serious charges based only on a single witness, Mr. Rodchenkov who is criminal and was the main creator of the system?" questions Mitkov.

"Not a single manipulation in doping control is possible without participation of the other sides. One side is Russia, national anti-doping agency, national anti-doping laboratory, and the other side (as a partner or silent witnesses) is another anti-doping laboratories, international federations, WADA, IOC during the Olympic Games," says Mitkov, his comments translated from Russian.

The Russian anti-doping controversy led the IAAF to ban all Russian track and field athletes from the Rio Olympics, while the rest of the 28 Olympic sports in Rio gave the green light for Russia to compete. The International Paralympic Committee blocked all Russians in all sports.

The latest McLaren Report includes forensic analysis of the tiny bottles used to store urine samples, examining them for scratches or other markings that would indicate whether the bottles had been re-opened to substitute the contents with samples that would not return positive test results. The bottles, manufactured by the Swiss firm Berlinger, are supposed to be secure until needed to be opened to analyze the sample.

Mitkov says if the bottles can be breached, "we cannot trust any doping sample collected at any competitions all around the world".

Mitkov applies similar logic to claims in the McLaren Report that Rodchenko managed to substitute positive samples with samples that would test negative.

"As a result: if someone can change positive sample to negative – so someone can change negative sample to positive," he says.

Mitkov complains that McLaren hasn’t confirmed the accuracy of the facts and documents that include emails. "Has he the reports of the independent IT-experts that e-mails were not falsified?," he wonders.

Mitkov says there is nothing new in the second McLaren Report, which he says indicates problems with doping in Russia but it’s "not more serious than in other countries."

"This story is the personal business of Mr. Rodchenkov, who sold doping to some athletes, gave them guarantees that he will cover their positive samples," says Mitkov. "He changed the positive doping samples to negative for the athletes who cooperated with him, and negative samples to positive for the athletes who refused to cooperate with him," he says.

"Certainly, Mr. Rodchenkov had accomplices in Government organizations that connected him with the athletes, but there is very little information about these people in the report," says Mitkov. He says when Rodchenkov ran into some problems in Russia, "he started making the situation look like a state system".

The International Olympic Committee calls the anti-doping program as described by McLaren as "a fundamental attack on the integrity of the Olympic Games" and has set up two commissions to analyze the findings. Reports from those commissions are expected in the new year. The outcome of those reports could shape a decision by the IOC regarding the eligibility of Russian athletes to compete at the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea.

In Russia, former IOC member Vitaly Smirnov is heading a commission that is meant to restore the standing of RUSADA, the Russian Anti-Doping Agency. Smirnov, who has expressed doubts about the McLaren findings, has not yet responded to requests for comment from ATR.

Written by Ed Hula.

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