The repercussions of Russia's alleged athletic doping scandal may be reaching their apex. Anti-doping officials are reportedly requesting that the nation be prohibited from participating at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
On Saturday, Rebecca R. Ruiz of the New York Times reported at least 20 athlete groups and 10 national anti-doping organizations are expected to implore Olympic organizers to ban Russia from the Summer Games. According to Ruiz, those efforts could begin as early as Monday.
Among the countries that have joined the cause are the United States, Canada, Spain, Switzerland, Germany and Japan, per Ruiz.
In May, Ruiz and Michael Schwirtz of the New York Times asserted that Russia, while hosting the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, orchestrated a state-run doping program, which helped the nation to immense success. Russia won the medal race that year with 13 gold and 33 in total.
Former Russian anti-doping lab director Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov said he created a mixture of three performance-enhancing drugs in liquor and provided it to athletes ahead of the Sochi Games.
As Ruiz also indicated in a separate report Saturday, the World Anti-Doping Agency commissioned an investigation into Rodchenkov's claims.
"It seems very likely that the report will confirm what will be one of the biggest doping scandals in history, implicating the Russian government in a massive conspiracy against the clean athletes of the world," Institute of National Anti-Doping Organizations chief executive Joseph de Pencier said, per Ruiz. "This will be a 'watershed moment' for clean sport."
One of the most prominent Russian athletes, tennis star Maria Sharapova, was assessed a two-year suspension by the International Tennis Federation for a positive meldonium test. WADA suspended Russia's Anti-Doping Agency in November because of noncompliance, which means RUSADA can't "conduct operations until they reinstall quality anti-doping programs."
In December, Russian cities Cheboksary and Kazan were denied the right to host the 2016 IAAF World Championships.
WADA conducted an investigation through an independent commission into Russia's state-sponsored doping in November, yielding a 325-page review that unearthed a "deeply rooted culture of cheating."
The Russian track team has already been banned from competing in Rio, a city that is having its own problems with doping. WADA suspended Rio's drug-testing lab in June after the discovery of technical errors.