Dope and hope

There are many loopholes in WADA's Russia ban

At first glance, the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA’s) dramatic four-year ban on Russia from participating in major sporting events such as the 2020 Olympics appears to be an appropriately draconian act following revelations of a state-sponsored doping programme for its athletes. A closer inspection, however, suggests that the country could well escape the punitive intent of the ban with plenty of help from world sporting bodies. The discoveries that led up to the ban following long months of investigations — chiefly thanks to information from a whistleblower, a former senior official in the programme — have been shocking. For instance,