Russian sports minister’s anti-doping adviser suspended

Moscow, July 19 (IANS) Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said on Tuesday that his anti-doping adviser Natalia Zhelanova had been temporarily suspended following a report of the WADA Independent Commission on Monday.

Apart from Zhelanova, Alexei Velikodny from the Center for Sports Training for Russian national teams, deputy director of the Sports Ministry’s science and education department Avak Abalyan, as well as the head of the department for medical and scientific research programmes at the Russian Olympic Committee, Irina Rodionova, have also been suspended after the report, reports TASS.

On Monday, Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev temporarily suspended Deputy Minister of Sports Yuri Nagornykh until a check over the doping scandal is over.

The Independent Commission of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) chaired by Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren released a report on Monday on the results of a probe into the accusations of doping and manipulation of tests by Russian athletes and officials at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympic Games.

The McLaren investigation found evidence that Russia’s Sports Ministry and the Center for the Training of Russian National Teams and the Federal Security Service supported the doping programme in Russian sports.

The commission also concluded that the system of concealing positive doping tests at the Moscow anti-doping laboratory had been in effect from late 2011 to August 2015.

Following the report WADA urged a ban on Russian athletes from all international sports competitions, including Rio 2016.