UKAD Athlete Commission statement calls for strongest sanctions on Russia ahead of WADA ExCo meeting

A statement released on behalf of the UK Anti-Doping Athlete Commission: 

“The UK Anti-Doping (UKAD) Athlete Commission is calling on the members of the WADA Executive Committee (ExCo) to implement the strongest possible sanctions to protect sport when they meet next week. 

“The UKAD Athlete Commission works to ensure that the views of British athletes are represented. We all have a genuine interest in ensuring athlete welfare and fair play stay at the heart of the sports movement, regardless of nationality.  

“As a result of the systematic and institutional Russian doping scandal, many athletes from many nationalities have had their medals, moment on the podium and health violated, and many Russian athletes have fallen victim to an oppressive doping system. 

“The support staff who perpetrated this fraud are still active. The Russian athletes who should have been banned are still competing and are still at risk of abuse by the state.  

“The WADA investigation has shown that testing data retrieved from the Moscow Laboratory has been manipulated by Russian authorities. As a result, WADA's Compliance Review Committee (CRC) has recommended a range of sanctions, including declaring the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) non-compliant.  

“The CRC-recommended sanctions are the bare minimum of what is now required and must be implemented in full by WADA.  

“The UKAD Athlete Commission members believe that WADA should go further than the CRC recommendations. We believe WADA should implement a total ban of Russian athletes in all competitions until the international community of athletes, sports bodies and supporters have confidence that cheating on this scale has been eliminated and that integrity in sport can begin to be restored. 

“In addition to WADA, we call on the International Paralympic and Olympic Committees, and all International Federations to use the full extent of their power to impose meaningful sanctions on Russia. 

“In September 2018, in the largest mobilisation of British athletes in modern Olympic and Paralympic history, we stood united and urged WADA not to compromise on Russia. 

“We implore the WADA Executive Committee, which meets on 9 December, to this time stand up for clean athletes and athletes who could fall victim to abuse by the Russian state.” 

The UK Anti-Doping Athlete Commission  

The UKAD Athlete Commission is an independent group of athletes who care about clean sport and protecting athletes from doping. 

The Athlete Commission provides advice to UKAD on all matters of anti-doping. 

Olympic, Paralympic and professional sports are all represented on the Commission, which has the responsibility of working with other athlete-centred groups - for example the British Athletes Commission - to ensure the wider views of the athlete community are represented. It also engages with athletes to collect feedback on UKAD programmes. 

The Athlete Commission members are: 

• Laura Deas 
• Andrew Hayes 
• James Hudson 
• Ali Jawad 
• Liam Tancock 
• Andrew Triggs Hodge OBE 
• Emma Wiggs MBE 
• Bernice Wilson 

For more information on the members, click here.