WADA: Ukraine was cheating on doping tests before the Tokyo Olympics

The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has found that in order to meet the requirements before the Tokyo Olympics, Ukraine deliberately placed samples collected during the competition as out-of-competition.

WADA announced the publication of a summary of the investigation against the Ukrainian anti-doping agency NADC, which found, inter alia, that the NADC had informed the Athletes of the forthcoming tests in violation of the rules.

A procedure has been initiated against NADC to determine compliance with WADA requirements.

WADA Chief Investigator Ginter Jounger stated that the duration and scale of the inappropriate practice could indicate “significant organizational deficiencies in NADC”.

The World Anti-Doping Supervisor has identified at least six cases in which in-competition samples were presented as out-of-competition, helping athletes achieve the minimum number of doping tests required before the Tokyo Olympics.

Joungers added that such fraud can also affect testing, as more prohibited substances have been detected in in-competition samples than out-of-competition, so results that are prohibited but allowed outside the competition may not be shown in the results. However, Joungers added that all samples were negative in the re-tests.

WADA has concluded that since 2012, Ukrainian athletes have received warnings about doping tests that were required by law to be unexpected.

Joungers noted that NADC representatives have called athletes or their coaches to warn of the need to arrive for analysis the next day, a practice often used before major international competitions. There have also been cases where a whole selection of a particular sports discipline has been waiting in line at NADC to pass on analyzes.