President of the Russian Curling Federation, member of the State Duma Committee on Physical Culture, Sport and Youth Affairs, Dmitry Svishcev held a working meeting with Deputy Director General of Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) on international cooperation and anti-doping issues Margarita Pakhnotskaya.
The main theme of the working meeting was discussing the ways of further improvement of the Russian legislation in the area of anti-doping, utilizing the practical experience gained by RUSADA. Dmitry Svishcev and Margarita Pakhnotskaya agreed to hold a round table discussion on the issue in the State Duma in near future, where all the stakeholders will be invited, in order to discuss the relevant amendments to the laws and bylaws of the Russian Federation. “I’ve noticed the genuine interest of the new managers of RUSADA in fixing the situation in Russian sport”, Dmitry Svishcev said.
Among other things, improvement of the anti-doping support in curling in Russia was discussed at the meeting. Dmitry Svishcev and Margarita Pakhnotskaya agreed to sign a cooperation agreement between the Russian Curling Federation and RUSADA. In the coming days, the Russian Curling Federation will render a decision that all the participants of the Russian curling championships in 2018 – athletes, coaches, medical personnel - will be required to have a certificate on completion of the anti-doping online course. “It is a pleasure to meet a like-minded person who is ready to support our initiatives”, Margarita Pakhnotskaya stated.
Head of RUSADA Investigation Department Leonid Ivanov and Executive Director of the Russian Curling Federation Olga Shashlova also took part in the meeting.