https://www.scmp.com/rss/323068/feed In 2010, an employee at the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (Rusada) began sending information to the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) alleging that Rusada was enabling systemic doping in athletics. The unfolding revelations since have resulted in one of the biggest scandals to ever emerge in the history of the Olympic Games. In July 2016, an independent investigation commissioned by Wada reported that the Russian ministry of sport and the Federal Security Service (FSB) had operated a state-dictated... en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Josh Ball Josh Ball After almost 10 years in the international wilderness, Russia’s track-and-field athletes appear little closer to a return to competing under their country’s flag than they were at the height of their doping ban. That suspension – imposed on Russia in November 2015 after state-sponsored doping was uncovered – was lifted in 2023, but it has remained ostracised over the invasion of Ukraine. And it was only in March that World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said sanctions would stay in place... https://www.scmp.com/sport/article/3321775/doping-damaged-goods-russian-athletics-long-road-reintegration?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/article/3321775/doping-damaged-goods-russian-athletics-long-road-reintegration?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 13 Aug 2025 23:00:16 +0000 Elite athletes push themselves to the brink, sculpt godlike physiques and push boundaries in the name of sport. However, always lurking are those who have achieved their goals with the help of performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs). The first known Olympic athlete to test positive for a banned substance was Swedish pentathlete Han-Gunnar Lijenwall, who lost the bronze and silver medals he won at the 1968 Mexico Olympics for alcohol use, or as he called it, “two beers” to steady the nerves. As the... https://www.scmp.com/sport/paris-olympics-2024/explainers/article/3270861/state-sponsored-doping-peds-and-beer-drinking-history-drugs-olympics?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/paris-olympics-2024/explainers/article/3270861/state-sponsored-doping-peds-and-beer-drinking-history-drugs-olympics?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 25 Jul 2024 23:00:09 +0000 Outcasts in the sporting world because of state-sponsored doping and their country’s invasion of Ukraine, Russian athletes are unable to compete at the Olympics unless they do so under a neutral flag. Belarussians are also being punished for their country’s stance in the conflict, and the re-emergence of the World Friendship Games is an alternative stage for the two nations and their allies to compete. This is not the first time this sporting event has been held, with its first edition held in... https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/3269056/friendship-games-2024-alternative-stage-athletes-russia-and-allied-countries?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/3269056/friendship-games-2024-alternative-stage-athletes-russia-and-allied-countries?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 03 Jul 2024 12:08:28 +0000 Russian and Belarusian athletes who have qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics this summer will need to undergo a vetting process by the International Olympic Committee before being invited to compete at the Games. Why do athletes from Russia and Belarus need to be vetted? Following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the IOC, after initially recommending a ban from international competitions of athletes from Russia and ally Belarus, allowed them to qualify for the Paris Olympics. But they... https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/3256902/how-will-international-olympic-committee-clear-russian-and-belarusian-athletes-compete-paris-2024?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/3256902/how-will-international-olympic-committee-clear-russian-and-belarusian-athletes-compete-paris-2024?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 27 Mar 2024 07:00:20 +0000 The decision by the highest court in sport to ban Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva for doping violations at the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022 does not mean an end to the matter. US skaters will receive gold medals after they finished second behind Valieva and her teammates in the team competition, while Japan are likely to get silver. The Russian team could still get bronze, depending how scores are calculated, if they don’t, Canada benefit. The case rocked the Olympics when, about 24... https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/3250277/who-gets-olympic-gold-silver-and-bronze-now-russian-skater-valieva-has-been-banned-doping?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/3250277/who-gets-olympic-gold-silver-and-bronze-now-russian-skater-valieva-has-been-banned-doping?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 30 Jan 2024 09:30:11 +0000 The Russian Anti-Doping Agency investigation into figure skater Kamila Valieva’s failed drug test has ruled that the teenager was not guilty of any doping infraction, the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) said. The world agency said Russian authorities had determined that although Valieva had committed an anti-doping rule violation, she bore “no fault or negligence” for it. As such, the tribunal imposed no sanction except for the disqualification of her results on the date of the sample collection... https://www.scmp.com/sport/china/article/3206822/russian-doping-agency-says-teen-skater-kamila-valieva-not-drugs-cheat-wont-punish-her?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/china/article/3206822/russian-doping-agency-says-teen-skater-kamila-valieva-not-drugs-cheat-wont-punish-her?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 14 Jan 2023 05:10:35 +0000 The International Skating Union Congress has voted to gradually raise the minimum competition age for senior figure skating competitions from 15 to 17. Tuesday’s decision, voted on at the ISU Congress in Phuket, Thailand, comes after Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva tested positive for a banned substance while at the Beijing Winter Olympics in February, when she was 15. Valieva’s case prompted questions over whether the minimum age for competitors in figure skating needed to be raised to... https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/3180735/after-kamila-valieva-doping-scandal-figure-skating-officials-vote?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/3180735/after-kamila-valieva-doping-scandal-figure-skating-officials-vote?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 07 Jun 2022 09:19:12 +0000 Russia’s 15-year-old skating prodigy Kamila Valieva is set to compete against 29 other athletes in the women’s figure skating individual short programme on Tuesday night at the Beijing Winter Olympics – but only if she is cleared at a drugs hearing on Sunday night. A Russian Anti-Doping Agency (Rusada) disciplinary committee lifted a temporary suspension on Valieva on Wednesday, after she tested positive for a banned drug. Now, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the World Anti-Doping... https://www.scmp.com/sport/china/article/3166885/winter-olympics-doping-scandal-what-15-year-old-russian-figure-skater?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/china/article/3166885/winter-olympics-doping-scandal-what-15-year-old-russian-figure-skater?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 13 Feb 2022 11:27:20 +0000 The Kremlin said on Friday it was fully behind Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva, whose Olympic gold medal hangs in the balance after she failed a doping test. “We boundlessly and fully support Kamila Valieva and call on everyone to support her,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. “And we say to Kamila: don’t hide your face. You are a Russian – perform and defeat everybody,” Peskov added. He said the Kremlin was encouraging everyone to wait for the results of the investigation... https://www.scmp.com/sport/china/article/3166640/winter-olympics-figure-skater-kamila-valieva-face-doping-hearing-decide?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/china/article/3166640/winter-olympics-figure-skater-kamila-valieva-face-doping-hearing-decide?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 11 Feb 2022 04:42:04 +0000 How does one possibly go about identifying the most successful nations in Winter Olympics history? Is an overachieving nation more successful than a dominant one? There are economic and cultural factors at play. How important is a nation’s population to determining if they punch above their weight in winter sports? Of course, delegation size has an effect on medal chances, but can one judge the question fairly if some countries get more snow and ice than others? All questions for someone... https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/3120644/beijing-2022-worlds-best-winter-olympics-countries-which-nations?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/3120644/beijing-2022-worlds-best-winter-olympics-countries-which-nations?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 05 Feb 2021 07:00:17 +0000 Sport has been the inspiration for some of the best films of all time and the last decade was no different. We have taken a look back at the last 10 years to find the best cinematic output that chronicled sport. That ranges from Oscar winners to some more niche documentaries, while they similarly they cross the sporting spectrum from Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona side to the boxing tents of the Australian outback. They feature a variety of subjects, from global icons such as Diego Maradona to child... https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/3043123/best-sports-documentaries-2010s-conor-mcgregor-maradona-free-solo?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/3043123/best-sports-documentaries-2010s-conor-mcgregor-maradona-free-solo?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Dec 2019 01:00:15 +0000 Serial offending goes with doping in sport. Drug-enhanced success becomes addictive. Random testing during and outside of competition is aimed at deterrence and detection. Now Russian sport authorities are accused, not for the first time, of taking serial offending to a new level, beyond individual doping, through state-sponsored cheating. As a result, the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) has banned Russia from participation in major global sporting events under its national flag for four years,... https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3042231/balance-needed-ban-dope-cheats?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/opinion/article/3042231/balance-needed-ban-dope-cheats?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 16 Dec 2019 03:40:25 +0000 A summit of leading Olympic and sport federation officials has called for “the toughest sanctions” in connection with the manipulation of Russian doping data. The recommendation of the two-day 8th Olympic summit comes two days before the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) decides whether Russia should be banned again from international competition. The summit in Lausanne, Switzerland, held at the invitation of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), was given a presentation by outgoing WADA... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3041112/olympic-summit-urges-toughest-sanctions-against?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/3041112/olympic-summit-urges-toughest-sanctions-against?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 07 Dec 2019 17:00:40 +0000 The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) said on Friday that it would lift the ban on Russia’s Paralympic Committee by March 15, under certain conditions. Russia has been barred from international Paralympic competitions since August 2016 over allegations of state-sponsored doping similar to the ones that led to the suspension of its athletics federation and anti-doping agency. The IPC said the Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC) had met 69 of the 70 reinstatement criteria outlined in... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/2185495/paralympics-world-body-lift-russia-ban-conditions?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/2185495/paralympics-world-body-lift-russia-ban-conditions?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 08 Feb 2019 14:08:17 +0000 Michael Phelps has blasted the World Anti-Doping Agency for lifting its three-year suspension on Russia, and said new leadership is needed in the fight against drug cheats in sport. “I mean it’s still frustrating, right? We’re still having athletes who have tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs still competing, how’s that real?” Phelps told the South China Morning Post. The legendary American swimmer was speaking at a press conference at the 2018 “Philanthropy for Better Cities Forum”,... https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/2165222/michael-phelps-blasts-world-anti-doping-agency-lifting-three-year?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/2165222/michael-phelps-blasts-world-anti-doping-agency-lifting-three-year?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 21 Sep 2018 08:30:00 +0000 The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) on Thursday lifted a ban on Russia’s anti-doping agency, paving the way for Russian athletes to return to competition but also sparking claims of “treachery” and “dark shadows” cast over the fight against drugs in sport. “Today, the great majority of Wada’s Executive Committee decided to reinstate Rusada as compliant with the World Anti-Doping Code subject to strict conditions,” Wada president Craig Reedie said. Reedie said the decision “provides a clear... https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/2165125/world-anti-doping-agency-lifts-russia-ban-crisis-looms-over?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/2165125/world-anti-doping-agency-lifts-russia-ban-crisis-looms-over?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 21 Sep 2018 02:34:44 +0000 The International Olympic Committee (IOC) confirmed on Wednesday that it had reinstated Russia after the remaining tests of the country’s athletes at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics were all returned negative. Russians competed as neutrals at the games after the IOC suspended the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) in December, saying it had found evidence of an “unprecedented systematic manipulation” of the anti-doping system. On Sunday, the IOC announced that Russia, which has repeatedly denied... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/2135167/russia-has-been-reinstated-olympic-games-after-doping-ban-ioc-confirms?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/2135167/russia-has-been-reinstated-olympic-games-after-doping-ban-ioc-confirms?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 Feb 2018 16:12:12 +0000 The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) stopped short on Sunday of endorsing the International Olympic Committee’s decision to lift Russia’s suspension if no new positive drug tests come to light from the Pyeonchang Winter Olympics. In a statement issued on Sunday night, Wada said it “acknowledges” the IOC’s latest move but pointed out that Russia is still not adhering to the World Anti-Doping Code. “It should be clarified that the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (Rusada) remains non-compliant with the... https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/2134719/wada-says-russia-still-not-compliant-anti-doping-ioc-prepares-lift?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/2134719/wada-says-russia-still-not-compliant-anti-doping-ioc-prepares-lift?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 26 Feb 2018 06:37:03 +0000 Russian military spies hacked several hundred computers used at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in South Korea, according to anonymous US intelligence officials. They tried to make it appear as though the intrusion was by North Korea, the officials claim. Officials in Pyeongchang acknowledged that the Games were hit by a cyberattack during the February 9 opening ceremony but refused to say whether Russia was responsible. That evening there were disruptions to the internet, broadcast systems and... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/2134625/russia-hacked-olympics-and-tried-make-it-look-north-korea-did-it-us?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/2134625/russia-hacked-olympics-and-tried-make-it-look-north-korea-did-it-us?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 25 Feb 2018 08:21:43 +0000 Twenty-eight Russian athletes had their Olympic doping bans overturned on Thursday, throwing the International Olympic Committee’s policy on the country into turmoil. The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruling was set to reinstate seven Russian medals from the 2014 Sochi Olympics, including gold in men’s skeleton and men’s 50-kilometre cross-country skiing. Eleven more Russians were ruled to have been guilty of doping, but had lifetime bans imposed by an IOC disciplinary panel two months ago cut... https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/2131611/fight-against-doping-thrown-turmoil-28-russian-athletes-have?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/2131611/fight-against-doping-thrown-turmoil-28-russian-athletes-have?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 01 Feb 2018 10:09:29 +0000 Russia’s team will be suspended from the Paralympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang after a doping scandal, but individual athletes will be allowed to compete under a neutral flag, the International Paralympics Committee said on Monday. The agreement is similar to that put in place to allow able-bodied Russian competitors to take part in next month’s Winter Olympics that precede the Paralympics. Russia was suspended by the IPC in August 2016 following revelations of widespread state-sponsored doping... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/2131106/russia-suspended-south-korean-paralympics-after-doping-scandal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/2131106/russia-suspended-south-korean-paralympics-after-doping-scandal?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 29 Jan 2018 15:56:24 +0000 Russia being banned from the Winter Olympics stole the headlines but may also have overshadowed an otherwise sorry year for sport in terms of scandals. It was a particularly damaging year for sporting officials, not least from the world of football and Fifa in particular. Former Guam football federation president Richard Lai pleaded guilty in April to taking bribes worth almost US$1 million while Costa Rican Eduardo Li, Guatemala’s Brayan Jimenez, Venezuela’s Rafael Esquivel and Julio Rocha, of... https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/2125563/year-scandal-2017-was-not-only-about-russian-doping?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/2125563/year-scandal-2017-was-not-only-about-russian-doping?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 24 Dec 2017 03:09:36 +0000 Russian President Vladimir Putin accused US agencies of manipulating evidence from the main whistle-blower on doping at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Putin said on Thursday that former Moscow anti-doping laboratory director Grigory Rodchenkov – who is under witness protection after fleeing to the United States last year – is “under the control” of the American agencies, including the FBI. Rodchenkov being in the United States “is not a positive for us, it’s a negative. It means he’s under the control... https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/2124414/vladimir-putin-says-us-might-be-manipulating-russian-doping?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/2124414/vladimir-putin-says-us-might-be-manipulating-russian-doping?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 15 Dec 2017 01:45:22 +0000 Respect is one of the core values of Olympism and Russia ignoring this is why the nation has been ejected from February’s Winter Games in Pyeongchang. It is about regard for the rules and regulations, fair play and others; the fight against unethical behaviour like doping is obviously a significant part. The International Olympic Committee, confronted with evidence of rampant drug use by hundreds of the country’s athletes and tampering by sports officials of urine samples, took the historic step... https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2123650/russian-olympic-ban-right-and-necessary?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2123650/russian-olympic-ban-right-and-necessary?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 09 Dec 2017 16:49:15 +0000 by Jim Litke There’s a toast Russians offer when something looks too good to be true. Roughly translated, it goes: “I’d like to drink honey with your lips”. It’s easy to imagine glasses being clinked at the Kremlin two nights ago, when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced its decision to ban Russia in name only – while sparing many of its athletes – from the upcoming Pyeongchang Winter Olympics. A day later, President Vladimir Putin halfheartedly denounced the ban as “politically... https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/2123465/russias-olympic-ban-name-only-vladimir-putin-knows-sweet-deal-when?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/2123465/russias-olympic-ban-name-only-vladimir-putin-knows-sweet-deal-when?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 08 Dec 2017 06:47:45 +0000 Russia has been barred from sending a team to the 2018 Winter Olympics, but many of its athletes could still be competing in South Korea. In a compromise punishment handed down on Tuesday, the IOC suspended the Russian Olympic committee for the steroid doping programme that corrupted the 2014 Sochi Games yet held open an invitation for the shamed nation’s clean athletes. Here is a look at Russian athletes’ re-routed road to the February 9-25 Pyeongchang Games: WHAT DID THE IOC DECIDE? ● The... https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/2123064/russia-olympics-ban-qa-can-they-still-compete-2018-pyeongchang?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/2123064/russia-olympics-ban-qa-can-they-still-compete-2018-pyeongchang?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 06 Dec 2017 02:39:16 +0000 Russia has been banned from the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang over state-sponsored doping, but the International Olympic Committee (IOC) said Russian competitors would be able to compete as individuals “under strict conditions”. The IOC announced the decision on Tuesday after examining evidence of state-sponsored doping over several years that reached a high-point at the Winter Olympics hosted in Sochi, Russia, in 2014. The IOC also banned Russia’s deputy prime minister Vitaly Mutko for... https://www.scmp.com/sport/article/2123042/ioc-bans-russia-2018-winter-olympics-because-state-sponsored-doping?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/article/2123042/ioc-bans-russia-2018-winter-olympics-because-state-sponsored-doping?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 05 Dec 2017 19:00:15 +0000 Russian sports officials risk talking themselves into a tougher punishment for the country’s Olympic team, according to the investigator who detailed an orchestrated doping programme. Richard McLaren’s work verifying allegations of systematic cheating by Russia at the 2014 Sochi Games has been vindicated this month by an International Olympic Committee panel that so far has found 22 winter sports athletes guilty. However, Russian officials continue to deny that state agencies organised the... https://www.scmp.com/sport/article/2122191/russia-risking-more-punishment-its-olympic-teams-over-refusal-admit-guilt?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/article/2122191/russia-risking-more-punishment-its-olympic-teams-over-refusal-admit-guilt?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 29 Nov 2017 22:45:30 +0000 The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) placed Russia’s fate for the upcoming Winter Olympics on perilous ground, refusing to reinstate the country’s suspended anti-doping operation while Russia remained insistent the government is not to blame. At its meeting on Thursday in South Korea, Wada handed Russia the equivalent of a failing grade, saying two key requirements for reinstating the Russian Anti-Doping Agency had not been fulfilled: Russia must publicly accept results of an investigation by... https://www.scmp.com/sport/article/2120290/russian-athletes-danger-missing-2018-winter-olympics-because-doping-scandal?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/article/2120290/russian-athletes-danger-missing-2018-winter-olympics-because-doping-scandal?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 16 Nov 2017 19:28:48 +0000 The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) said on Friday it had obtained a database that confirmed allegations of widespread state-sponsored doping in Russia made in the McLaren report. Wada said it was confident the file acquired by its Investigations and Intelligence department is the Moscow anti-doping laboratory’s testing data from January 2012-August 2015. Despite repeated calls for Russia to cooperate with international bodies to stamp out doping, Russian authorities have always denied the... https://www.scmp.com/sport/article/2119414/world-anti-doping-agency-says-it-obtained-database-which-proves-russia-drug?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/article/2119414/world-anti-doping-agency-says-it-obtained-database-which-proves-russia-drug?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 10 Nov 2017 20:06:25 +0000 A Chinese whistle-blower, now seeking political asylum in Germany, has claimed there was a systematic doping programme in China during the 1980s and 1990s across a range of sports. In a television interview with German broadcaster ARD, Xue Yinxian, a 79-year-old doctor, claimed more than 10,000 athletes in different sports were involved in a state-backed doping programme. The interview with Xue came from the same German investigative team which first made claims of widespread doping in Russia... https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2116449/thousands-chinese-athletes-doped-through-state?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/china/policies-politics/article/2116449/thousands-chinese-athletes-doped-through-state?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Oct 2017 05:13:51 +0000 Russian President Vladimir Putin thinks he knows why the International Olympic Committee has not yet approved Russia to compete in next year’s Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. And it does not have to do with accusations that Russia maintained a widespread, state-sanctioned doping programme for years. Instead, Putin said in televised comments on Thursday, Russia’s possible exclusion is the doing of the United States. “We aren’t simply guessing about this, we know about it,” Putin said,... https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/2116426/vladimir-putin-accuses-certain-american-bodies?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/world/russia-central-asia/article/2116426/vladimir-putin-accuses-certain-american-bodies?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 21 Oct 2017 14:26:45 +0000 Sometimes, the help in the fight against doping comes from the most unexpected places. French Open officials could easily have given Maria Sharapova an exemption to play in their tournament, now that she has finished a 15-month ban for doping. The decision to do so wouldn’t have outraged many, since a lot of fans already sympathise with her contention that she is not an intentional doper. And with Serena Williams on the sidelines, the women’s draw could certainly have used a boost from... https://www.scmp.com/sport/tennis/article/2094929/shed-no-tears-maria-sharapova-never-ending-fight-against-doping-goes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/tennis/article/2094929/shed-no-tears-maria-sharapova-never-ending-fight-against-doping-goes?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 19 May 2017 04:49:46 +0000 Russian heptathlete Tatyana Chernova has been stripped of her 2008 Beijing Olympics bronze medal for doping with an anabolic steroid. The International Olympic Committee says Chernova’s urine sample revealed traces of turinabol in a retesting programme of Beijing and 2012 London Olympics athletes. In a previous doping case, Chernova lost her 2012 Olympic bronze medal and was also stripped of the 2011 world title – which went to Jessica Ennis-Hill of Britain. Another British athlete, Kelly... https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/2090203/russias-tatyana-chernova-stripped-beijing-olympic-heptathlon?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/2090203/russias-tatyana-chernova-stripped-beijing-olympic-heptathlon?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 24 Apr 2017 15:28:44 +0000 US swimming legend Michael Phelps called for an urgent overhaul of global anti-doping procedures on Tuesday as the top American drug czar accused the International Olympic Committee of dragging its feet over reform. Phelps, the most decorated Olympic athlete of all time who retired after last year’s Rio Games, told US lawmakers investigating doping on Capitol Hill that the IOC should make more resources available to the World Anti-Doping Agency. “In my opinion this is something that needs to be... https://www.scmp.com/sport/article/2074936/swim-legend-phelps-calls-urgent-changes-global-doping-procedures?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/article/2074936/swim-legend-phelps-calls-urgent-changes-global-doping-procedures?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 28 Feb 2017 20:12:35 +0000 Russia will miss August’s World Athletics Championships in London after their doping ban was extended on Monday, world governing body president Sebastien Coe said. Coe said Russia, whose 15-month ban from athletics was prolonged at the IAAF’s Council meeting in Cap d’Ail near Monaco, could not be reintegrated into the sport before November. Double Olympic 1500-metre champion Coe was speaking after the IAAF Council approved the Taskforce’s recommendation that Russia was “not ready for... https://www.scmp.com/sport/article/2068639/iaaf-russia-banned-london-world-championship?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/article/2068639/iaaf-russia-banned-london-world-championship?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 06 Feb 2017 23:03:30 +0000 British former world record holder Dave Bedford has backed Sebastian Coe as “the right man to lead” world athletics despite telling a British Parliamentary Committee earlier this month the now International Association of Athletics Federations president ignored “extremely serious allegations” of a blackmail case over a failed doping test. Bedford told the Culture Media and Sports Committee that in August 2014 he had sent Coe, who was then the vice-president of the International Association of... https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/2064661/dave-bedford-backs-sebastian-coe-lead-world-athletics-despite?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/2064661/dave-bedford-backs-sebastian-coe-lead-world-athletics-despite?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 23 Jan 2017 09:29:41 +0000 A ban of Russia from the 2018 winter Olympics and possibly the 2020 Tokyo summer Games should be considered if there was state-run doping in the country, Germany’s Olympic Committee chief Alfons Hoermann said on Sunday. Leaders of 19 anti-doping agencies also called for a blanket ban on Russia from all international sport with the second part of Richard McLaren’s report for the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) exposing the huge scale of state-sponsored, systematic doping and cover-ups in the... https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/2064362/germany-wants-russian-olympic-games-ban-2018-and-2020-case-state?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/2064362/germany-wants-russian-olympic-games-ban-2018-and-2020-case-state?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 22 Jan 2017 07:58:59 +0000 The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation suspended four Russian competitors on Friday as the fallout from a bombshell expose into state-backed doping at the 2014 Sochi Olympics took another twist. TASS news agency quoted Russian bobsleigh federation president Alexander Zubkov as expressing his “disagreement with this decision”. The International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation (IBSF) said they had acted after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) had informed them that... https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/2058409/four-russian-skeleton-athletes-suspended-over-doping-claims?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/2058409/four-russian-skeleton-athletes-suspended-over-doping-claims?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 31 Dec 2016 04:58:52 +0000 Russian anti-doping officials have acknowledged a massive doping conspiracy in their country, but still reject claims of government involvement in the affair that rocked world sport, The New York Times reported on Tuesday. “It was an institutional conspiracy,” Anna Antseliovich, the acting director general of Russia’s national anti-doping agency, told the newspaper. However, Antseliovich and others interviewed continued to reject the characterisation of the doping scheme as “state-sponsored,”... https://www.scmp.com/sport/article/2057606/russian-officials-acknowledge-doping-conspiracy-deny-government-involvement?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/article/2057606/russian-officials-acknowledge-doping-conspiracy-deny-government-involvement?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 28 Dec 2016 03:08:23 +0000 Fifa president Gianni Infantino has ruled out taking the 2018 World Cup from Russia in the wake of the latest findings of the McLaren report. “Fifa is not the world police and certainly not the world doping police,” the head of world football’s governing body told German magazine Der Spiegel. “Our disciplinary bodies will take care of anything in the McLaren report which has anything to do with football. “Boycotts and bans have never solved any problems.” The McLaren report, the second part of... https://www.scmp.com/sport/soccer/article/2055797/fifa-are-not-world-doping-police-says-president-gianni-infantino?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/soccer/article/2055797/fifa-are-not-world-doping-police-says-president-gianni-infantino?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 Dec 2016 11:27:43 +0000 Chinese swimmer Chen Xinyi has been banned for two years after failing a drug test at the Rio Olympics, the sport’s governing body (Fina) said. Chen finished fourth in the women’s 100 metres butterfly at Rio but did not start in the 50m freestyle heats after Chinese state media reported she had tested positive for the diuretic hydrochlorothiazide. Hydrochlorothiazide, known as a masking agent, is a banned substance because it can be used to spur weight loss and cover up the presence of other... https://www.scmp.com/sport/china/article/2053827/chinas-chen-xinyi-hit-two-year-ban-fina-doping-rio-olympics?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/china/article/2053827/chinas-chen-xinyi-hit-two-year-ban-fina-doping-rio-olympics?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 12 Dec 2016 02:31:46 +0000 Russia hijacked international sport by using more than 1,000 athletes in an “institutional conspiracy” to win medals at the Sochi and London Olympics and other global events, a top investigator said Friday. Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren, who has previously accused Russia of “state-sponsored” cheating, said in a new report for the World Anti-Doping Agency that he had confirmed the switching of samples at the Sochi Winter Olympics in 2014 and that salt and coffee were used to manipulate... https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/2053513/russia-hijacked-sport-mass-doping-says-investigator-richard?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/2053513/russia-hijacked-sport-mass-doping-says-investigator-richard?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 10 Dec 2016 03:01:29 +0000 More than 1,000 Russian competitors across more than 30 sports were involved in an institutional conspiracy to conceal positive doping tests as Moscow “hijacked international sport”, an independent Wada report said on Friday. The second and final part of the report for the World Anti-Doping Agency by Canadian sports lawyer Richard McLaren provided exhaustive evidence of an elaborate state-sponsored doping scheme operated by Russia’s Sports Ministry. It included switching and changing samples by... https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/2053386/more-1000-russian-athletes-involved-doping-conspiracy?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/2053386/more-1000-russian-athletes-involved-doping-conspiracy?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 09 Dec 2016 15:58:41 +0000 Russia will stay stuck in track and field’s doghouse with athletes banned from competing under their own flag until February at the earliest. In his latest update on Russian anti-doping efforts, Rune Andersen said there has been progress but that his task force which is monitoring the situation for the International Association of Athletics Federations (Iaaf) is not yet ready to give Russia a clean bill of health. The task force wants to return to Moscow in January, and also is waiting for a... https://www.scmp.com/sport/article/2051078/no-immediate-return-russia-athletics-events-after-olympic-games-ban?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/article/2051078/no-immediate-return-russia-athletics-events-after-olympic-games-ban?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 02 Dec 2016 03:32:29 +0000 Russia’s Yuliya Zaripova has been stripped of the gold medal she won in the women’s 3,000 metres steeplechase at the 2012 London Olympics, the International Olympic Committee said on Monday. Zaripova, who tested positive for turinabol, was among 12 athletes, including seven medallists, who were disqualified from their events following retesting of samples, the IOC said. https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/2048014/russias-yuliya-zaripova-stripped-london-olympics-steeplechase-gold?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/2048014/russias-yuliya-zaripova-stripped-london-olympics-steeplechase-gold?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 21 Nov 2016 15:53:02 +0000 Australian Olympic champion rower Kim Brennan has spoken of her deep disappointment that her integrity as a clean athlete has been called into question over a shot of adrenaline administered in a medical emergency. Brennan, who won gold in the single skulls at the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, was one of 11 athletes whose medical data was leaked on Friday by a Russian hacking group, which is known as APT28 and Fancy Bear by US cyber security researchers. The documents leaked included details of... https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/2020267/beyond-disappointing-australian-olympic-games-champion-rower-kim?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/2020267/beyond-disappointing-australian-olympic-games-champion-rower-kim?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 17 Sep 2016 09:17:41 +0000 The World Anti-Doping Agency on Tuesday slammed Russian hackers who breached its database and published confidential records of US Olympic gymnast Simone Biles and tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams. Wada said the Russian cyber-espionage group Tsar Team (APT28), also known as Fancy Bears, had broken into its Anti-Doping Administration and Management System (Adams) database. The hacking group released information gleaned from the files of Biles, the Williams sisters and US women’s basketball... https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/2019235/wada-cries-foul-russian-hackers-reveal-medical-secrets-us-olympics?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/2019235/wada-cries-foul-russian-hackers-reveal-medical-secrets-us-olympics?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 14 Sep 2016 01:41:45 +0000 Russian Yulia Efimova, who won two Olympic Games silver medals this month after being cleared to compete following a doping ban, has compared swimming in Rio de Janeiro to being at war. Initially excluded from the event because of her doping record, the 24-year-old won a last-minute legal challenge to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and finished second in the 100 and 200 metres breaststroke in Brazil. “I felt under pressure from the sportsmen, the fans, the press. This was awful and it... https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/2008853/olympic-games-was-cold-war-says-russian-swimmer-yulia-efimova?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/2008853/olympic-games-was-cold-war-says-russian-swimmer-yulia-efimova?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 25 Aug 2016 05:20:42 +0000 Russian doping whistleblower Yulia Stepanova said Monday she and her husband fear for their lives after an attempt was made to hack her World Anti-Doping Agency records. Stepanova, who with husband Vitaly Stepanov helped lift the lid on Russia’s alleged state-sponsored doping programme, has been living in hiding in the US since the crisis exploded last year. The former 800m runner said she and her husband now faced fresh concerns for their safety following the hack attempt, which was confirmed... https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/2004549/it-wont-be-accident-russian-doping-whistleblower-yulia-stepanova?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/other-sport/article/2004549/it-wont-be-accident-russian-doping-whistleblower-yulia-stepanova?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 16 Aug 2016 05:05:49 +0000