WADA

As the clock ticks down to the opening ceremony in Rio de Janeiro, international Olympic leaders are facing a seminal moment.

The World Anti-Doping Agency is prepared to open new inquiries into suspected systematic doping in Russian sports and other countries.

The litany that is FIFA’s ongoing corruption scandal continues to be one of the biggest investigative takedowns the world of sport has ever seen. Blatter has gone. Platini has gone. Bin Hammam is gone. In fact, almost everyone who has sat at FIFA’s executive top-table over the last decade has gone. Yet, for all the carnage that lies in the wake of the bans and suspensions imposed upon football’s governors across the world, it is worth remembering that these sanctions have been enforced in response to off-field misdemeanours. Not so with athletics.

Leaders of the World Anti-Doping Agency declared Russia’s anti-doping operation out of compliance Wednesday—a harsh, though expected blow to a country accused of widespread corruption throughout its sports.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday ordered an investigation into allegations of widespread doping among the country’s sports figures.

The day after the 2014 Sochi Olympics ended with Russia atop the medals table, a beaming President Vladimir Putin presented his athletes with state awards for “defending the honor” of their country by showing that its “great and glorious” sports traditions were still strong.

Russia’s status as a sports superpower and its participation in track and field events at next year’s Olympics came under threat Monday after a report accused the Russians of widespread, state-supported doping reminiscent of the darkest days of cheating by the former East Germany.

Russia could be banned from next year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro after a devastatingly critical World Anti-Doping Agency report

Construction is set to begin to revamp Brazil’s only World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accredited laboratory in preparation for the upcoming 2014 FIFA World Cup and 2016 Summer Olympic Games hosted in Rio de Janeiro.