October 15, 2018 – The controversy surrounding WADA’s reinstatement of Russia’s anti-doping organization heated up when, in an interview with BBC’s Dan Roan, Canadian cross-country ski legend, Beckie Scott, accused WADA senior officials of bullying and belittling behaviour over her criticism of its move to reinstate Russia’s anti-doping organization (RUSADA).

Scott recently resigned from her role as Chair of WADA’s athlete committee in protest over the reinstatement and received massive support as many don’t agree with relaxing or modifying the key criteria needed to be met to reinstate RUSADA. “I fundamentally disagreed with it,” Scott told the BBC. “I felt that this was a compromise that was unacceptable.”

When she voiced her concerns over the move, she said the reaction from WADA was one of “a general attitude of dismissal and belittling of the athlete voice at the table.”

WADA said, in a statement to Reuters, that there was no mistreatment of Scott admitting only that there were “strong and divergent views,” at the table during a meeting of the WADA executive committee in Seychelles to approve Russia’s reinstatement.

Scott, a Canadian Olympic champion and a vocal anti-doping proponent, said that there has been a loss of confidence and faith in the organization as a result of the move echoed by many supporters and organizations including the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport (CCES).

BBC interview here.
Reuters report on WADA’s statement here.