The early exit of several top football powers transformed the 2018 FIFA World Cup into a most unexpected event. Top-ranked countries like Portugal, Argentina, Germany, Spain and Poland were relegated from the competition, while host country Russia exceeded any and all expectations. Russia entered the World Cup ranked 70th, yet found itself among the final eight teams.
They won all but one group stage match, ceding the Uruguay contest but having already collected enough points to qualify for the next round. The home “underdogs” then managed to squeak past the 2010 World Cup winners, Spain, with a penalty shootout win before finally succumbing to Croatia on penalty shots. Russia’s 27-year-old ace Denis Cheryshev’s goal scoring got him on the World Cup golden boot list.
The Russian team played with uncommon fitness, as when Aleksandr Golovin surged past Spain’s Iago Aspas for a loose ball even though he had played the entire game and Aspas had just entered as a substitute. Golovin led all players in distance covered, most sprints and top speed. A team’s best sprinter is rarely its best long-distance runner.
These triumphant performances were achieved after Russia went winless in its last six matches before the World Cup. In 2014 at the World Cup in Brazil, Russia’s trek ended in the group stage. In the 2016 UEFA Euro Championship Russia again failed to exit the group stage after a draw and two losses. At the FIFA Confederation Cup in 2017, Russia won one match, lost two and was eliminated. Recent friendlies against Brazil, France and Austria all resulted in losses in which Russia failed to score more than one goal.
Even while Russia’s play on home turf in this year’s World Cup has elated its fans, many have raised serious suspicions about whether Russia could violate anti-doping rules to enhance its performance, similar to what was alleged at the Sochi Olympics. FIFA has been questioned for selecting a country like Russia to host the World Cup while it was still considered non-compliant by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) due to its state-sponsored doping program.
In the McLaren Reports, published in December 2016, investigators found more than 1,000 Russian athletes in 30 sports, including football players, had been implicated in this state-sponsored doping program. The report indicated that a Russian ministry office told the former director of Russia’s anti-doping lab (Anti-Doping Center), Grigory Rodchenkov, to create a false positive for a Ukrainian athlete to serve the interests of Russia. False positives were intentionally created to take competitors down.
While Russia continues to reject all allegations about the state-sponsored doping program at the Sochi Olympics, Reuters reported in early June of this year that an international memo, signed by Deputy Sports Minister Natalia Parshikova on April 4, was sent to the staff of national training centers for elite athletes.
The letter stated, “The employees of training bases must notify athletes’ staff or the athletes themselves of the arrival of doping control officers at the training bases.”
When questioned about the memo, the Russian Sports Ministry replied that it was a reminder for the staff to comply with the requirements of international anti-doping legislation.
Doug MacQuarrie, chairman of the Institute of National Anti-Doping Organizations, said the letter stated the government was asking for a stricter anti-doping practice. In addition, he said it “serves to reinforce the existence of a previous deliberate regime to undermine anti-doping and confound the sample collection process.”
The head of Canada’s WADA-accredited laboratory, Christiane Ayotte, said, “It supports the theory that the rules were not respected when anti-doping officers would arrive.”
After all of the insinuations, investigative reports and statements given by persons involved in the doping program, the question is whether the Russian football team is fair and clean, or if the suspicious speculations are valid.
There was no suggestion that the Russian soccer team used the Olympic sample-swapping technique that WADA dubbed the “disappearing positive methodology.” WADA did find that positive tests were referred to Sports Ministry officials who decided whether to “save” the player by covering up the test. This allegedly happened for some eight soccer players, including defender Ruslan Kambolov.
FIFA’s goal: big dollars, no sense
FIFA chose not to act on major evidence of widespread doping in Russian soccer according to an investigative report from The Mail, which reinforces past reports of similar activities.
Soccer’s governing body – one of the most corrupt in sports – knew of documented evidence of institutional cover-ups 18 months before the start of the 2018 World Cup.
The Mail had previously reported that all 23 members of Russia’s 2014 World Cup team were among dozens of athletes being investigated. FIFA was very methodical in seeking proof and, in May, cleared all 28 members of Russia’s 2018 preliminary squad, claiming lack of evidence.
One week earlier, however, a 29th player was removed from the team, supposedly because of a mysterious injury. His name was Ruslan Kambolov. His particular case was critical.
According to The Mail’s investigation, Kambolov failed a drug test in 2015. His urine sample was subsequently swapped out for a clean one two weeks later and he was never punished.
At the time, FIFA had no knowledge of Kambolov’s failed drug test. FIFA received all of this information in December 2016. The evidence was included in Part II of the McLaren Report, the independent investigation commissioned by WADA to look into Russia’s state-sponsored scheme. This was the same report investigating Russia’s 2018 Olympic ban.
The Kambolov case gained great significance because it strongly implies the sport of football benefited from Russia’s scam and FIFA nonetheless judged Russia fit to host the World Cup.
FIFA has chosen not to pursue this matter since this worldwide event is being held in the country that sponsored all of this doping. The World Cup is the soccer governing body’s main source of revenue. Thus, FIFA’s major incentive is to ensure the 2018 World Cup goes on with no incident or controversy.