Tygart attacks WADA over 'backroom' deal to reinstate Russia

US Anti-Doping Agency chief executive Travis Tygart said that athletes had lost confidence in WADA following the decision to lift the ban on Russia's anti-doping agency.

The World Anti-Doping Agency reinstated Russia in September, paving the way for Russian athletes to return to competition across all sports.

Tygart attacked the move when it was first announced, and pulled no punches when repeating his condemnation of the global anti-doping body.

He suggested that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) was too close to WADA and that athletes' confidence in their system was now "in tatters".

"The process was a secret, backroom deal. The process itself stunk, and the decision itself too," Tygart told AFP on Friday.

His comments triggered an indignant response from WADA, who flatly denied his claim that there was anything untoward about the procedure.

"The process was signposted at every turn, it was clearly communicated in a transparent way and the decision was reached following due diligence, consideration and with all the facts available," a WADA statement insisted.

"People can of course disagree with the decision but to suggest it was a "backroom deal" is unfair and simply not true," it added.

Tygart in his interview claimed athletes "have lost confidence in the global regulator to make good decisions in an open, fair and transparent manner".

He asserted: "The practical effect (of allowing Russia back in) is nothing more than money being allowed to be spent for hosting events in Russia.

The athletes, with exception on track and field athletes, have always been able to compete." Tygart said Russia had effectively been let off the hook after being exposed for state-sponsored doping at the Sochi Games in 2014.

"We exposed a state system, they get caught with their hand in the cookie jar, but they basically got a 'get out of jail free' card.

"No meaningful sanctions were imposed on the state that perpetuated this system, and that is the part that athletes are having a problem with."