Olympia: Arrest warrant for Whistleblower Rodchenkow

A court in Moscow has issued an international warrant for the arrest of the Russian whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov.This was confirmed by a spokesperson of the District Court of Moscow Basmanny District of AFP news agency.

Rodchenkov, former head of the Moscow Anti-Doping Center and head of the Russian doping program around the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, has fled to the USA in November 2015 and is under witness protection.There is no extradition agreement between the two countries.

Much of the two McLaren reports are based on the 58-year-old’s statements.The Canadian law professor Richard McLaren had shown Russia to have a government-run doping system, which is said to have benefited more than 1000 athletes.

In 2016, a Russian committee of inquiry had filed for legal proceedings against Rodchenkov and accused him of abusing his office, which is punishable by up to four years in prison.In a contribution to the New York Times last week, the leniency witness once again insisted on Russia’s exclusion from the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang.In addition, he also alleged that the Kremlin had been assassinated in connection with the sudden death of Nikita Kamayev, the former chairman of the Russian anti-doping agency RUSADA, in February 2016.

Russia continues to deny a state involvement in the doping offences.Among other things, the hosts had manipulated dozens of doping samples during the 2014 matches in Sochi, while in the Moscow laboratory more than 1400 doping samples had been destroyed in the run-up to an investigation.Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Witali Mutko, then Sports Minister, blames Rodchenkov and the Moscow laboratory for all misconduct.He also emphasizes that the laboratory was then under the supervision of the World Anti-Doping Agency WADA.

Rodchenkov, on the other hand, said in his recent interview with the New York Times:”Let me be clear: Mr. Mutko knew about the Russian doping program and was decisive for its success:” His escape to the USA was based, among other things, on the fact that two days earlier a friend from the government had warned him that “Russia was planning my’ suicide’.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) wants to announce a fine against Russia in October.The IOC recently described reports that only a high fine was to be imposed as “speculation”.