Russia's long-awaited return to international sports has hit another snag, this time over allegations that the country's head of anti-doping was busy covering up drug test results at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics instead of, you know, doing her job.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced on Thursday that athletes from Belarus can now compete under their own flag and anthem, which is nice for them. But for Russia, the IOC admitted it still has "concern" - which is IOC-speak for "we've seen this movie before, and it doesn't end well."
Sources confirmed that concern stems from recently reported claims linking Russian anti-doping agency director general Veronika Loginova with a government-supported doping program at the Sochi Games. The allegations, first published in the Insider in April, also claim Loginova's partner is a member of the Russian security service, the FSB. Under World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) rules, government interference in a country's anti-doping program is a big no-no, though Russia has historically treated that rule as more of a suggestion.
While not naming Loginova directly, IOC president Kirsty Coventry said the allegations had caused "great concern" and had "led to the World Anti-Doping Agency looking into a potential doping allegation." Coventry added, with the earnestness of someone who has clearly had enough of this, "It is of huge importance for me to do whatever we can to ensure that the field of play, whenever any athletes are coming back to competition, is the cleanest and fairest field of play that we can provide."
Wada, for its part, said in a statement that it "noted with concern the contents of an article published by the Insider that made certain allegations related to the chief executive of Rusada and the anti-doping system in Russia." It added that it had immediately alerted its independent Intelligence and Investigations department - because nothing says "clean sport" like needing an intelligence unit.
Wada also told the Guardian that since December 2025 it had been looking into "another serious allegation made by a known source against the same individual." The agency warned that if the allegations were verified, "it would be a cause of significant concern for Wada, and further action would be initiated."
Loginova, who apparently moonlights as a punching bag for scandal, dismissed the accusations as "fantasies" last month and told the New York Times she was working on educational programs during the 2014 Games. "I had no potential involvement in the anti-doping laboratory's operations, much less influence on the collection of doping samples and their subsequent testing," she said. Rusada has been approached by the Guardian for comment, presumably to ask if they've got any non-fantasy explanations.
Unsurprisingly, Russia's sports minister Mikhail Degtyarev was not thrilled. "The Russian Olympic Committee has long since provided the IOC with a comprehensive set of documents demonstrating the elimination of all legal grounds for further banning the ROC," he said. "Linking the decision to reinstate the ROC to any irrelevant matters is unacceptable. The restoration process has clearly been delayed, and we see no reason for it." Because nothing says "we've changed" like complaining that irrelevant things like doping cover-ups are holding things up.
Meanwhile, World Athletics said it would not be welcoming Belarus or Russia back until there is "tangible movement" over peace negotiations in Ukraine. "We all hope this will be soon, but until that happens the Council continues to be united in standing behind the decision it made in March 2022 and revisited in 2023 and 2025," it added. So Russia's sporting return is on hold until either the war ends or the doping allegations turn out to be fantasies. Place your bets.