MOSCOW, Nov. 30 (UPI) -- Rusada, Russia's sports anti-doping agency, will not be disbanded despite its suspension by the international anti-doping agency, Russia's sports minister said Monday.
An independent commission organized by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) was strongly critical, in a scathing report issued in early November, of Rusada's involvement in allowing and supplying Russian athletes with performance-enhancing drugs. The All-Russia Athletic Federation, the national anti-doping laboratory in Moscow, the Russian Sports Ministry and several coaches and athletes were also identified in the report for violations of world protocols regarding performance-enhancing drugs. All Russian athletes have been indefinitely banned by the International Association of Athletics Federations, the ruling body of international sports. The ban was accepted by Russian sports organizing bodies, with promises to cooperate with inspectors in changing the country's drug-testing system.