OREANDA-NEWS. The US Senate voted in favour of the Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act. It criminalizes schemes that systematically violate anti-doping rules. The law will apply extraterritorially.

“USADA [US Anti-Doping Agency. – Ed.] thanks all of those who collaborated on the creation and passage of The Rodchenkov Anti-Doping Act of 2019 (RADA), which passed in the U.S. Senate today unopposed.  RADA was passed unanimously in the U.S. House of Representatives in October of last year. The Act will provide the tools needed to protect clean athletes and hold accountable international doping conspiracies that defraud sport, sponsors and that harm athletes,” USADA’s statement reads.

The Rodchenkov Act provides for the possibility of prosecution by the United States of any person for involvement in a doping conspiracy at competitions with the participation of Americans. The law applies to competitions held under the rules of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). Violators face imprisonment of up to 10 years and a fine of up to 1 million dollars. The law does not establish penalties for using doping by individual athletes. In addition, the law will protect whistleblowers.

The law is named after the former chief of the Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory, WADA’s informant Grigory Rodchenkov.