IOC condemns manipulation of the Moscow laboratory data

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) on Tuesday condemned the manipulation of the data retrieved from a tainted Moscow laboratory and said it will support the "toughest sanctions" against all those responsible for flagrant manipulation.

The committee has deemed the manipulation as an "attack on the credibility of sport".

"The International Olympic Committee (IOC) condemns in the strongest terms the actions of those responsible for the manipulation of the Moscow laboratory data before it was transferred to the World Anti-doping Agency (WADA) in January 2019. This flagrant manipulation is an attack on the credibility of sport itself and is an insult to the sporting movement worldwide. The IOC will support the toughest sanctions against all those responsible for this manipulation," IOC said in a statement.

The IOC's statement comes after WADA's independent Compliance Review Committee (CRC) on Monday released its 26-page report and said that data provided by Russia were 'neither complete nor fully authentic'. WADA in its recommendation to the executive committee of the world's anti-doping regulator and if they accept, Russia faces a four-year ban from the global sport.

The recommendation comes on the back of serious penalties that have already been imposed on Russia for constantly trying to find ways to go around the ways that have been designed to ensure fairness in sports, the New York Times reported.

The committee noted that the report proves that any manipulation of the data is the sole responsibility of the Russian authorities. However, it further stated that the report does not indicate any wrongdoing by the Russian Olympic Committee or its members. The committee has requested Russian authorities to provide raw data in which the data is based as the matter is of 'huge important'.

"The IOC once again requests that the Russian authorities deliver the raw data on which this case is based. This is still a matter of huge importance, since the delivery of any fully authenticated raw data will ensure that full justice can finally be done, and that the guilty can be properly punished and the innocent fully protected. In this way, the shadow of suspicion over the new generation of clean Russian athletes can be removed," the statement read.

The IOC stressed that the guilty should be punished in the toughest way possible and urged WADA to take further action.

"However, given the seriousness of the manipulation, we strongly urge WADA to take further action. This means, in particular, that WADA should refer all these files to the Council of Europe and UNESCO, having regard to the Council of Europe Anti-Doping Convention and the UNESCO International Convention Against Doping in Sport," the statement further read.