MOSCOW (Sputnik) — The World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) informant, Russian runner Andrey Dmitriev said on Saturday that he had to flee Russia for security reasons.
In January, German ARD broadcaster aired a ten-minute documentary about the alleged doping use in Russia's sport. In the documentary Dmitriev told ARD that Russian athletics coach Sergei Epishin and some other specialists never worked without doping. In addition, Epishin allegedly demanded from each athlete a sum of 200,000 rubles (about $3,363) for the purchase of prohibited drugs and shielding athletes from doping control. The coach denounced accusations, while WADA promised to work together with International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) to check Dmitriev's information.
"It was not my plan to leave my country when I was giving ARD an interview in January. I don't regret anything from what I said. It was necessary to speak up against the doping culture in Russia. People have to raise their voice, otherwise there will be never a real cultural change in Russian sports. But having seen what happened with me in the meantime I had to realize that it is better to leave. I feel safe for now. It was necessary that I fled," Dmitriev was quoted as saying by the ARD TV channel.
