A national anti-doping laboratory at Moscow's State University could begin working in full by May of next year ©Kremlin

A national anti-doping laboratory at Moscow's State University could begin working in full by May of next year, it has been claimed.

Viktor Sadovnichy, the rector of the university, told Russia's state news agency TASS that he was hopeful the facility would be operational in May.

Sadovnichy added that they would be purchasing equipment for the laboratory in January and February and were in continued discussions with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

He said a foreign specialist could be employed to run the facility.

Work at the laboratory was launched in March of this year as part of a plan to repair the country's anti-doping effort following the doping scandal that eventually led to the International Olympic Committee ruling Russia would participate as neutrals at Pyeongchang 2018.

"At the moment we are at the final stage of the move," said Sadovnichy.

"In January-February we will start buying expensive equipment.

"This is a certain process that we must conduct in early 2018, also all the states we agreed with WADA, from January they will be credited to Moscow I hope that in May next year the anti-doping laboratory will start working in full.

"We are constantly in correspondence with WADA and we hope that the license will be renewed for those analyses that are now available.

"We are now under observation, if the commission considers that a foreign specialist is needed, then he will be appointed."

The Moscow State University rector said he was hopeful work would fully begin at the facility in May ©Getty Images
The Moscow State University rector said he was hopeful work would fully begin at the facility in May ©Getty Images

WADA revoked the accreditation of the Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory following revelations of a state-directed doping scheme in the country.

The facility was then partially reaccredited to carry out bloody analysis.

The Moscow laboratory remains closed off and WADA have said they will only cooperate with a Russian investigation into the drugs scandal if they are given access.

It came after WADA obtained an electronic database from a whisteblower of all testing data at the Moscow laboratory between January 2012 and August 2015.

The information includes details of thousands of drugs tests, providing new evidence which appears to confirm many of the allegations made by Canadian lawyer Richard McLaren in his WADA-commissioned reports published in July and December 2016. 

WADA now want access to the laboratory so they can match the samples to the database.