Page 10 - ARUBA TODAY

A10 WORLD NEWS
Tuesday 22 May 2018
Russia's doping capital gears up for World Cup

By JAMES ELLINGWORTH Winter Olympics, which
SARANSK, Russia (AP) — Russia hosted in Sochi. The
Nestled on the edge of the Kremlin fiercely denies the
forest outside the Russian allegations. The lab in Sochi
city of Saransk is the home where the cover-up alleg-
of one of the most success- edly took place is now a
ful doping programs in his- bar selling doping-themed
tory. cocktails near the city's
Athletes from the V.M. World Cup stadium.
Chegin Olympic Training President Vladimir Putin has
Center dominated race- branded WADA's star wit-
walking for over a decade, ness, former Moscow lab
winning nine Olympic and director Grigory Rodchen-
18 world championship kov, a "nutjob" manipulated
medals between 2004 and by the United States. Rod-
2016, when head coach chenkov is under witness
Viktor Chegin was banned protection in the U.S. after
for life amid a blizzard of fleeing Russia and faces ar-
doping cases.Now Saransk rest if he returns home.
— like Russia itself — wants Russian law enforcement
to rebuild its reputation by claims Rodchenkov made
hosting World Cup soccer This photo taken on Thursday, May 17, 2018 shows a view of the Olympic Sports Center where up allegations of drug use
games. Panama's soccer team will live during the 2018 World Cup in Saransk, Russia. at the Sochi Olympics,
Instead of housing athletes Associated Press and instead accused him
juiced with blood-booster of tricking clean, innocent
EPO or the toxic experi- as neutrals — with two dis- Doping Agency says it has legations after the World Russians into taking banned
mental drug GW1516, the qualified for failed drug proof top athletes from the Cup. substances.
center, which has been tests. region, including a world Russia's doping turmoil has Russia's shown little inter-
renamed but still sports a In Saransk, government of- championship silver med- extended into the world of est in investigating possible
large set of Olympic rings, ficials hope the World Cup alist, traveled to Kyrgyzstan soccer. doping in soccer.
will be home to the Pana- erases memories of doping last month to train with FIFA investigated the Rus- Deputy Prime Minister Vita-
ma national soccer team. scandals. Chegin. Five were exclud- sian national team de- ly Mutko, who is also presi-
Ahead of Panama's arrival, "That ended two years ago. ed from the world team fender Ruslan Kambolov dent of the Russian Foot-
a new pitch is being in- (Chegin) left his job and championships over the this year after evidence ball Union, said Friday that
stalled and security is tight. he doesn't work for us. We case. he could have benefited performance-enhancing
With political fallout going don't even know where he The agency's head Yuri Ga- from a program of cover- drugs don't exist in soccer.
all the way to the Krem- is," regional sports minister nus alleged to state news ing up failed drug tests. "All that can happen here is
lin, doping scandals have Vladimir Kireyev said while agency Tass last week that Kambolov's lawyers have marijuana, narcotics, sniff-
threatened to overshadow visiting the center earlier Kireyev threatened an anti- said the investigation was ing something," he told Rus-
Saransk and Russia's World this month. "The whole re- doping executive and that dropped for lack of evi- sian media. "I'm absolutely
Cup preparations. gion is living for its prepa- his ministry oversaw "the dence, though FIFA hasn't calm about our team over
Russia was banned from ration for the World Cup, absence of effective anti- confirmed that. this. We have nothing to
February's Winter Olympics and we don't have time for doping measures." Kireyev's Kambolov was named hide." Mutko was banned
over past doping offenses, such things." office said Monday he'd May 11 to Russia's World from the Olympics for life
and its athletes competed However, the Russian Anti- only comment on those al- Cup squad, but removed in December as part of a
three days later after the package of doping sanc-
team said he injured his tions against Russia.
calf muscle. In Saransk, many still see
A World Anti-Doping Agen- doped athletes as heroes
cy investigation in 2016 who put the city on the
published evidence that map. In the Chegin cen-
Russian officials were pre- ter's heyday, crowds of
pared to cover for the gold medalists trained to-
country's 2014 World Cup gether each morning on
squad should its players test the city streets, watched
positive pre-tournament. by admiring locals. Three
However, there's no indica- banned Olympic medal-
tion any of them doped or ists and Chegin were na-
that they knew of cover-up mechecked in some pro-
plans. motional materials from
The WADA investigation's Saransk's World Cup orga-
files also indicate players nizers, which were removed
on the Russian under-19 from the FIFA website Mon-
and under-21 national day after an inquiry by The
teams tested positive and Associated Press.
weren't punished. Saransk locals told the AP
The Russian government they take a cynical view of
was implicated when sport. Everyone dopes, and
In this photo taken on Thursday, May 17, 2018, people exit the Olympic Sports Center where WADA alleged senior offi- if you're caught, you're ei-
Panama's soccer team will live during the 2018 World Cup in Saransk, Russia. cials ordered a cover-up of ther unlucky or a victim of
Associated Press drug tests around the 2014 jealous rivals.q