Alexandria Morgan

September 28, 2018

Russian Anti Doping Agency Back in Business??



In a world full of deceiving people there are always people who will do things to cheat the system, and there are the ones that try to keep the system in line. During the 2018 Winter Olympics the Russian Anti Doping Agency withheld a lengthy drug scandal from all of the officials within the WADA community. WADA is the Word Anti Doping Agency and they control all of steroids and drugs possibly being abused within the athletic community. After Russia was exposed for cheating in the Olympics, the athletes were allowed to participate without a russian flag. The lab where the shady business took place was closed until further notice.

But recently they were allowed to open back up. Testing athletes and the results being considered valid. This enrages many other athletes from the WADA. The reason that the agency was allowed to open back up was because all of the athletes in the RADA tested clean months after. This factor is ridiculous because just because the players are clean does not mean everything is going to be played fair. Within the months of the scandal they were passing dirty samples through a hole in the lab wall, and replacing them with clean ones. Whos to say they won’t do this again? But the main reason that they are being allowed to run again is because WADA wants the dirty samples stored from the original misconduct. The company thinks that allowing them to be in business will give them a better chance at retrieving the samples like this.

 So this then raises a bigger question, is the goal to make sure the athletes are clean and fair, or are they just trying to obtain the urine samples?  The price that WADA put on the lift of the ban was contrition; remorse. Whether or not the athletes feel bad about the scandal, does not tell us it won’t happen again. Not to mention WADA’s long record of turning a cheek to powerful sports nations like Russia. Just for scale, the U.S. annual check to WADA is $2.3 million.

Many Critics and other athletes are also disappointed in the World Agency’s decision to lift the ban on the Russian agency. Beckie Scott, a Canadian cross country skier says ,” devastating blow to clean sport.” Even higher in the chain of command Travis Tygart, CEO of WADA states,” The decision stinks to high heaven,” along with many other enraged athletes of the community.

Deciding to reopen the agency was a \ selfish decision made by the officials in WADA just for the soul purpose of obtaining the urine samples left over from the scandal. The scientist who orchestrated the whole crime was Dr. Rodchenkov who is now living in hiding. Rumor has it that he subsides somewhere in the United States, but as of right now his location is unknown. How can a “ professional” conduct a wrongdoing as severe as this one, and feel no anguish? The answer is pure greed. He wanted to collect as much profit from the underground work, as he could without getting caught. The agency got the 3-year ban lifted by the World Anti- Doping Agency just to face a crisis that they never saw coming.