Russian Football Doping Scandal: Cover-Up of Suspicious Test Samples
Suspicious samples for anti-doping tests conducted on Russian U-21 football players were hidden, according to email messages revealed in an investigation by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
The email messages, published this month as part of WADA investigator Richard McLaren's report on doping in Russia, indicate that there were five suspicious samples among those taken from U-17 and U-21 players in 2013 and 2014.
Another case in the Russian league was apparently covered up by then-sports minister Vitaly Mutko, who is now in charge of preparations for the 2018 World Cup to be held in the country. The FIFA Ethics Committee said on Monday that it will "deeply analyze" the report in response to the allegations about football and Mutko's role, as he is a member of the FIFA Council.
The allegations come after a tough year for Russian football, which is trying to prepare for the 2018 World Cup but has faced strong criticism for the acts of vandalism perpetrated by its fans during the Euro 2016 in France, as well as instances of racism in Russian league matches.
The doping cases in the Russian national teams were recorded as clean by Moscow laboratory director Grigory Rodchenkov, who received instructions from Alexei Velikodny, an employee of the Ministry of Sport, to "save" the players, the McLaren investigation found.
Records show that three members of the Russian U-21 team provided suspicious samples at the national training center just before traveling to the 2013 European Championship, and two of them had elevated levels of testosterone — a key doping indicator — and another test came back positive for cannabis. The sample from a fourth player contained high traces of alcohol, which is not prohibited but seems to have been included in the document as a warning.
Rodchenkov and Velikodny discussed the players by name in the email messages, clearly violating confidentiality rules, and Velikodny ordered the laboratory director not to take any action.