A month before the competition it was reported that the head of the Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory, Grigory Rodchenkov, had been arrested on charges of drug distribution, but the case against him had been dropped. His sister was convicted of purchasing banned drugs with the intention to supply them to athletes. Former Russian coach Oleg Popov and 400 metres runner Valentin Kruglyakov stated that athletes were ordered to dope and paid officials to conceal their positive tests. The coach of the national athletics team, Valentin Maslakov, noted that Kruglyakov had tested positive for drugs and that Popov coached Lada Chernova, who had twice tested positive. He also stated that RUSADA and its labs were independent from the national sports federations. On 18 November 2015, WADA suspended laboratory of RUSADA – Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory, however the organization was not dissolved and tests are to be done by other independent labs.