Russian doping officers accused of warning athletes

MOSCOW (AP) — Russian anti-doping inspectors have again been accused of giving athletes advanced warning of what are meant to be surprise drug tests.

Russian anti-doping agency deputy CEO Margarita Pakhnotskaya tells The Associated Press there were “tens” of cases in the sport of powerlifting, and the agency is investigating whether athletes in other sports were warned, too.

Pakhnotskaya says powerlifters showed her agency, known as RUSADA, tipoffs from the inspectors and demands for payment.

The inspectors supposedly include former RUSADA staff now working for a private company which was contracted by the Russian Powerlifting Federation.

Tipoffs can allow athletes to wash banned substances out of their systems in time to appear clean. World Anti-Doping Agency investigators highlighted this as a problem before WADA suspended RUSADA in 2015.