MOSCOW—A Russian court has ruled that doping whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov should be arrested if he returns to his home country. The ruling could be a step toward Russia demanding the extradition of the former Moscow anti-doping laboratory director, though Russia does not have an extradition treaty with United States, where Rodchenkov fled in January 2016. Yunona Tsaryova, a spokeswoman for the Basmanny district court in Moscow, told The Associated Press that the court issued an order for Rodchenkov’s arrest last week on a charge of “abuse of official powers leading to grave consequences.”The decision was not immediately made public and was first reported Thursday by Russian news agency RIA Novosti. Rodchenkov says he was ordered by Russian Sports Ministry officials to cover up drug use by leading Russian athletes at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi and other major sports events.

Source: thestar September 28, 2017 14:26 UTC