Russian anti-doping agency plans to resume testing athletes this month

The head of Russia's anti-doping agency said on Wednesday that their athlete testing programme would resume in the latter part of May after being suspended in late March as a result of government measures aimed at tackling the coronavirus pandemic.

Yuri Ganus, RUSADA's director general, told an online press conference that his organisation was waiting for the latest World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) regulations before testing work will begin.

Doping control officers will wear personal protective equipment (PPE) when testing, to protect themselves and the athletes, Victoria Barinova, head of RUSADA's testing department, said.

RUSADA was suspended in 2015 after WADA found evidence of mass doping in Russian athletics.

The agency was conditionally reinstated in September 2018, but was declared non-compliant late last year after WADA found Moscow had provided it with doctored laboratory data.

Russia is in the process of appealing against a four-year ban on its athletes competing at major international sporting events under their flag as punishment for that alteration of laboratory data.