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Russian Court Orders Arrest of Doping Whistleblower Who Fled

Posted  September 29, 2017

By the C|C Whistleblower Lawyer Team

A Russian court has ruled that a former top sports official who blew the whistle on doping violations will be arrested if he ever sets foot back in his native land. The ruling against Grigory Rodchenkov was made in absentia last week and not revealed until Thursday, when it was reported by several Russian news agencies. He had been accused of “abuse of official powers” which lead to “grave consequences.” Mr. Rodchenkov, the former head of the Anti-Doping Center in Moscow, had disclosed what he described as a state-run scheme to tamper with bottles containing urine samples of Russian athletes during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.

Revelations by Mr. Rodchenkov to The New York Times prompted investigations by the World Anti-Doping Agency and the International Olympic Committee. That led to a number of prominent Russian athletes being barred from various international sporting events, including the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Some athletes were later cleared of the accusations.

Russia officially acknowledged certain shortcomings in its antidoping procedures, but denied any state involvement, instead blaming Mr. Rodchenkov. Mr. Rodchenkov’s defense team has appealed the arrest order issued by the Basmanny district court in Moscow. NYT

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