The current Director General of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) has come to the defense of the organization’s efforts in a recent interview, while also expressing her ambition to challenge Witold Bańka for the presidency of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
“At the moment, it seems there are no contenders for the WADA presidency — no one is stepping up to challenge Bańka for the position. I believe I am ready to take on that challenge. However, I currently lack the legal grounds to do so, as RUSADA has not yet been granted compliance status with the World Anti-Doping Code,” Veronika Loginova told the Russian News Agency TASS.
RUSADA was initially deemed non-compliant by the global governing agency in 2015 over widespread doping in Russian athletics. The country was reinstated in 2018 and was again declared non-compliant a year later and has yet to be reinstated, with WADA reiterating its status after an inspection in 2023.
Loginova said the case against her agency will be brought to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, with a hearing scheduled for September of this year. Meanwhile, the director general is working to make sure everything is in order and told TASS that they are “ready for an inspection.”
“Amending the Law on Sports in the Russian Federation is underway. At the moment, the Russian Ministry of Sports and RUSADA are in contact, we have developed a draft federal law, which, in WADA’s opinion, will remove all questions,” she explained. “The Russian Anti-Doping Agency has done everything in its power within its competence.”
