House passes bill to make doping conspiracies a crime

The House has passed a bill that would criminalize international doping conspiracies, the likes of which tainted the 2014 Olympics in Sochi.

The bill, passed Tuesday on a voice vote, was named after Grigory Rodchenkov, the Moscow anti-doping lab director who helped authorities uncover Russia’s methods in a massive cheating scheme.

If passed by the Senate, where it has wide support, the law would call for fines of up to $1 million and prison sentences of up to 10 years for those who participate in schemes designed to influence international sports competitions through doping.

The bill has support of major American sports leagues, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee and the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, which would gain access to information from cases prosecuted under the law.

Rochenkov said with the bill’s passage, “the fight against doping rises to a new level of efficacy.”