Dear Wrestling Community:

The Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) this week voted to have the International Federations governing each Olympic sport assist in determining which Russian athletes may participate at the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

In keeping with the IOC’s decision, United World Wrestling has initiated a process to validate each of the Russian wrestlers qualified for the Rio 2016 Games. We already know that WADA-accredited laboratories outside of Russia have tested each Russian wrestler submitted for competition at the Games -- with athletes passing as many as four separate tests.

United World Wrestling is committed to work jointly with the World Anti-Doping Agency and the IOC to preserve the integrity of sport and ensure wrestlers are clean.

In our pursuit to deliver a doping-free Games United World Wrestling has done the following:

• Communicated to WADA that we are in full support of investigations into National Federation’s under suspicion of doping violations.
• Commissioned an independent Swedish testing company, International Doping Tests & Management AB (IDTM), to administer out-of-competition tests in Russia. Those tests are securely transported to the WADA-approved lab in Cologne, Germany.
• Clarified to the IOC that the RUSADA and Moscow labs implicated in the recently published McLaren Report are not part of United World Wrestling’s testing protocol.
• Received the names implicated in the McLaren report on July 24 and requested more information and evidence re: the wrestlers said to be implicated in “disappearing positive tests.”

Wrestling has been at the forefront of recent changes to international anti-doping protocols. In 2013 United World Wrestling overhauled its anti-doping procedures, increased testing and has also developed a more systematic anti-doping education program.

In February 2015 United World Wrestling approved increased funding for its out-of-competition testing program and significantly expanded the financial penalties placed on each National Federations for a positive test.

While we must continue to be vigilant, we’ve made substantial progress including the 2015 World Championships in Las Vegas, USA where USADA tested 108 athletes from 38 countries without a doping violation. A zero-tolerance outcome needs to become the standard in our sport, and it’s our desire that recent events will help prompt more positive change.

Thank you for your concern regarding the integrity of our sport.

Sincerely,

Nenad Lalovic
President, United World Wrestling