WADA chief warns Russia over medical record hacking

The head of the World-Anti-Doping Agency has warned Russia that the hacking of athletes medical records could postpone the nation's attempt to return to the world stage.

WADA president Craig Reedie told CNN Thursday that the hacking of confidential files by the cyber criminal group "Fancy Bear" was clearly a retaliatory attack after 118 of Russia's athletes were banned from competing at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games following revelations of "state-sponsored" doping.

WADA recommended banning all Russian athletes from the Olympics, after an independent report said the program during the 2014 Sochi Winter Games. Russian officials and athletes likened the move to Cold War era conflicts.

And while Reedie remains adamant there has been no involvement from the Russian government, he says the hack could have serious consequences for the country's bid to re-enter the world of athletics. I would be very surprised if the Russian government was directly involved," said Reedie.

"However, the information that we have, which I'm pretty certain is authoritative, is that the people who are doing this have connections to Russia.

"I would hope that the appeals I have made to my colleagues and officials in Russia will bring about some desired results because this continued breach of confidentiality on athletes' personal records is entirely unwelcome.

"It is dangerous, it breaches every bit of medical code that I would ever know, and is unhelpful if Russia is making efforts to have its anti-doping system declared compliant."

A TUE allows an athlete to use, for therapeutic purposes only, an otherwise prohibited substance or method.

They're often used because athletes may have illnesses or conditions which means they need to take certain medications.

If the medication which is needed is listed as a prohibited substance, a TUE could be given to allow the athlete to use the medication without breaking any doping laws.

Exemptions, which are only granted if WADA determines no unfair advantage is given to the athlete, can be applied for through the athletes' national anti-doping agency or international federation.

The entire process is supposed to be kept confidential to maintain the athlete's right to privacy.

Reedie, who revealed that the organization has a budget of $30 million to spend on its security, says WADA will meet in Switzerland on Tuesday to discuss what should be done to safeguard its system in the future.