MOSCOW, Sep 28 Former Deputy Director General of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Rob Koehler accused the International Olympic Committee (IOC) of protecting the interests of Russia in the issue of allowing athletes to participate in the Olympic Games. Russian athletes performed at the 2018 Olympics in South Korean Pyeongchang in a neutral status. The fate of each future Olympian was to be decided by an IOC commission led by Valerie Furneuron. It was she who was responsible for the invitations to the athletes to the Olympics, which were issued only after a thorough study of the doping background. «I was directly told:» Russia is the strongest sports power. The IOC is a partner (WADA) for 50%. And we don't want to piss them off, so back off.» The IOC wanted Russian athletes to participate in the Olympics? 100%. They were more interested in protecting Russian interests than the purity of the sport. Too many conflicting participants, too many perceived and real conflicts of interest The structure of WADA is a broken structure,” Koehler said in an interview with Real Sports, published on the YouTube channel of the HBO television network.
