In January, WADA removed North Korea from the global list of non-compliant signatories of the World Anti-Doping Code. The decision was based on a single mission inside the dictatorship in four years. Although, according to ITA the situation in North Korea raises "a number of legitimate concerns".
History was made on 21 February 2024. While the warmonger Vladimir Putin put on another sporting propaganda show in Kazan, the first drug dealer was convicted under the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act in the USA – exactly 10 years after the Sochi Doping Games.
Is it still state doping in Russia under the supervision of the FMBA? Russian athletes are spoilt for choice between the carrot and the stick. Either they toe the FMBA line and compete, or face the wrath of the Russian state and expulsion from the sport.
IOC's WADA representatives Francesco Ricci Bitti and Patrick Baumann were accused of intimidating Beckie Scott at a 2018 meeting, where a decision was taken to reinstate RUSADA, despite Russia not meeting WADA’s requirements. So why did WADA’s investigation cost the insane amount of $1.6 million?
Hacking implies criminality. Leaking implies opportunism. Whistleblowing implies heroism. A reflection on the subtle differences of publicising dirty dealings.
