WADA Shares the Wealth

(ATR) Representatives from 60 International Federations, the IOC, the International Paralympic Committee, and national anti-doping agencies received data from the Moscow anti-doping lab.

The World Anti-Doping Agency investigative unit presented the data, which comes from the Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) of the Moscow lab. According to a report from the New York Times, WADA received the data last month from a third party. WADA has been denied access to the lab since the release of the second report by independent investigator Richard McLaren.

WADA said in a statement its investigative team "determined [the data’s] authenticity; uncovered and analyzed its hidden content; and, determined what valuable intelligence could be shared with these organizations".

Included in the LIMS data is the individual athlete samples. In the case of the Moscow Lab, the Russian sports ministry would be notified of Presumptive Adverse Analytical Findings. If the Ministry chose to "save" those findings, it would report the sample as negative to WADA’s Anti-Doping Management System (ADAMS). The McLaren Report called this switching of samples the "Disappearing Positive Methodology".

Giving federations and other stakeholders access to this verified data could lead to a number of future cases against athletes for anti-doping violations. Gunter Younger, head of WADA’s Intelligence and Investigations team, said in a statement he believes the investigative team will be a "collaborative partner" for federations with this data.

Younger says that the LIMS data can be used with other evidence found in the McLaren Report, such as emails, affidavits, and forensic evidence. The federations also received copies of the Richard Pound investigation for WADA, which focused specifically on doping violations in Russian athletics.

"It is now over to them to diligently follow up on this new intelligence," Younger said. "While the LIMS data alone may not always be sufficient to establish an Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV), this is very credible evidence that can be used in combination with other evidence to form a sufficiently strong case."

Written by Aaron Bauer

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