Former WADA President Pound Welcomes Agency's Decision To Reinstate RUSADA

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd September, 2018) Dick Pound, the first president of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), expressed his support Friday for the agency's decision to reinstate the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) in its rights.

On Thursday, WADA President Craig Reedie said most members of the WADA Executive Committee voted to reinstate the status of RUSADA following its suspension in 2015 over violations of the World Anti-Doping Code. Nine out of 12 WADA Executive Committee members voted for the reinstatement of RUSADA.

"What I don't understand is why anybody would think that the one organisation that stood up to Russia, that conducted two investigations, that got the lab director sacked, RUSADA suspended and put up with all kinds of c**p from the IOC because of it, would suddenly roll over ... Sometimes when you're in the diplomatic arena you have to approach from the side, not head on," Pound said as quoted by Ireland's RTE broadcaster.

He added that even if Russian athletes stopped using doping for fear of being exposed, it still contributed to clean sports.

"Of course, I would have loved to have won the hearts and minds of Russian athletes and convinced them that doping is the wrong thing to do but if we can make them play fair because they think they will get caught, I don't care, because it still gets us to clean sport," Pound stressed.

In 2015, WADA declared RUSADA non-compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code. In 2016, the head of WADA's independent commission Richard McLaren published a report that claimed Russia had a state-supported doping system.

Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin, have refuted allegations of the existence of a state-run doping program but admitted there were issues with doping abuse.