MOSCOW, May 8, Sergey Fuks. General Director of the Russian Anti-Doping agency (RUSADA) Veronica Loginova stated that foreign laboratories refuse to accept doping tests from the BRICS Games and the Friendship Games, negotiations are underway.
The Friendship Games will be held in Moscow and Yekaterinburg from September 15 to 29, the BRICS Games — from 12 until June 23 in Kazan. The head of the Venezuelan delegation, Deputy Minister of Sports and Youth of Venezuela Pablo Alfonso Justiz Araujo previously stated that the participation of Venezuelan athletes in the BRICS Games is associated with pressure from the IOC and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
“»I want to share negative information about our new formats. The organizers themselves will decide who will carry out doping control, but even despite this, the samples will still need to be exported abroad. And we began to face the refusal of foreign laboratories to accept samples from the BRICS Games and the Friendship Games. We are continuing negotiations, we are in contact and in dialogue, we are taking all measures to ensure doping control. The refusal is due to the hype around new formats,” Loginova said at a meeting of the State Duma Committee on Physical Culture and Sports.
In March, the International Olympics. Committee (IOC) published a declaration against the politicization of sports, in which it called for refusal to participate in the Friendship Games. Earlier, James McLeod, director of the IOC's Department of Relations with National Olympic Committees (NOCs), said that the IOC asks the NOCs of various countries to «exercise caution in relation to the World Friendship Games.» The head of WADA, Witold Banka, noted that the possible participation of signatories of the WADA code in the Friendship Games could entail consequences.