Will Czech sport be excluded from competitions like Russia? The problem is caused by errors in the anti-doping committee

This would be a real mess. And it’s definitely not a false alarm. An audit by the World Anti-Doping Association (WADA) revealed a total of 42 irregularities in the functioning of the Czech Anti-Doping Committee (ADV), and several of them are critical.

And the solution? If the violations are not corrected, Czech sport faces the worst-case scenario of being banned from competitions, which is what has befallen Russia. And this was even before the war in Ukraine, which is why in recent years we could see Russian athletes not under the flag and anthem of Russia.

The World Anti-Doping Association has given the Czech Republic deadlines by which the mistakes have to be corrected. “If we did not meet them, the commission would meet and the result of the negotiations could be that we end up like Russia. That is, we would be banned from sporting competitions, we would not compete under the Czech flag, without the anthem,” said the head of the anti-doping committee, Jiri Janak.

At the same time, Janák claims that several criticisms have already been removed, so the exclusion from competitions should not happen.

And what kind of mistakes are we talking about? “About 70 per cent of the checks took place during the competitions and 30 per cent unannounced outside the competitions. WADA wants the opposite ratio,” says Janák.

In addition, samples were mishandled, athletes’ whereabouts were not monitored, they were insufficiently informed and there was no testing plan.

“I was on the green field, all email communication was deleted,” Janák defends himself, adding that the situation was not addressed. He took office last summer and the audit took place in November.

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