The first head of WADA Pound said that Russia showed the middle finger in the scandal with Valieva
The first president of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), Dick Pound, criticized the actions of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in the doping scandal with Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva. His words are quoted by the Sports Business Journal.
Pound said no one was happy with the IOC’s reaction as no medals have yet been awarded for the 2022 Olympic team tournament. “In fact, the Russians showed the middle finger. The IOC cannot control what they say,” the ex-head of WADA emphasized.
On January 13, the disciplinary committee of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency, which is an independent body from the main organization, informed WADA of Valieva’s innocence. At the same time, the skater was deprived of the gold of the Russian Championship in 2022. Later, the International Skating Union and WADA filed appeals with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), calling for the athlete to be disqualified and her results annulled.
At the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing, Valieva won gold in the team competition, but the Russian team was not awarded due to a doping scandal with her participation. In the sample of the skater from December 2021, traces of the banned drug trimetazidine were found. At the same time, CAS allowed her to participate in the individual tournament, where she took fourth place.
Source: Lenta
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