Media playback is not supported on this device Sir Craig Reedie says Wada will continue its fight against doping

World Anti-Doping Agency president Sir Craig Reedie has insisted sport can recover from a "dreadful" period.

Wada was heavily criticised by Olympic officials for its handling of the Russian doping scandal in the build-up to this summer's Rio Games.

Reedie's future at the agency has been called into question just days before he stands for re-election.

But the 75-year-old Briton told BBC Sport he would fight on as "the integrity of sport is at stake".

Tensions over Wada's attempt to get Russia banned from the Rio Olympics were laid bare at this week's general assembly of the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC).

"There was irritation from a number of national Olympic committees," said Reedie, who is also a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

"Just before Rio they would rather sport had not been involved in accusations of the breaching of rules by the Russian authorities, and I understand that, so I had to deal with it and I did deal with it."

IOC president Thomas Bach told BBC Sport this week he has "no regrets" about letting Russia compete at Rio 2016.

Media playback is not supported on this device IOC chief Bach has 'no regrets' over Russia ruling

But ANOC president Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah - an influential powerbroker in the Olympic movement - has called for a "neutral" leader to take charge of Wada.

Reedie is due to stand unopposed for a second three-year term at a Wada board meeting this weekend. He had been told he had the IOC's support.

"I've spent 15 years of my life working with Wada," he said. "I don't think it's a particularly good idea if I walk away from it simply because it's getting difficult.

"We've been faced with a difficult situation. I think we're going to come through it, and we have to. The integrity of sport is at stake."

The Olympic movement is bracing itself for the release next month of a second independent Wada report by professor Richard McLaren into Russian doping.

His first report was damning, revealing a systematic cheating programme in the country across many sports.

"If, about three and a half years ago, when I was invited to apply [to be Wada president], somebody had told me this would have happened, it maybe isn't the kind of job that you would volunteer for," said Reedie.

"That having been said, there are serious issues involved here.

"The past has been pretty dreadful. I'm really hopeful that once we get the second part of the McLaren report out of the way, we can draw a line under the past and move forward.

"We have to get the Russian anti-doping agency properly compliant again and we need to look at what Wada is currently doing, and see if we can do it better."

Wada's board meeting in Glasgow this weekend could be pivotal in the debate about how to better protect clean sport following the recent Russian scandal.

Many within the anti-doping community want Wada to be strengthened, with greater independence and sanctioning power.

However, the sports movement appears reluctant to hand Wada more authority, with Bach suggesting he wants a new Wada-run body to take on responsibility for testing as well as regulation.

Subscribe to the BBC Sport newsletter to get our pick of news, features and video sent to your inbox.</s>Sir Craig Reedie has fought off criticism over his handling of the Russian doping scandal to be re-elected president of the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) for a second consecutive three-year term.

The 75-year-old Scot was re-elected unopposed by Wada’s 38-strong foundation board in Glasgow, despite concerns expressed by a number of Olympic delegates over Wada’s call for a blanket ban on all Russian athletes competing at Rio 2016.

Reedie had received the support of the International Olympic Committee early this month but doubts were raised during this week’s annual gathering of the Association of National Olympic Committees in Doha.

Reedie and Wada have been accused of blighting the build-up to the Rio Games by their handling of the doping allegations, in particular in favouring a stronger stance on Russia than the one ultimately adopted by the IOC.

Reedie had told Press Association Sport in the last week: “It makes no sense to walk away now. The situation needs to be resolved and it will be resolved.

“I took this on expecting to serve two terms. OK, nobody imagined we would be spending two years dealing with Russia but that is where we are at. It might not look like it but we are making real progress now. I am not walking away.”

Reedie may find himself at the centre of more controversy as he embarks on his second term with the difficult task of beginning to bring Russia in from the cold.

The second part of the Wada-sponsored report into alleged doping improprieties by the Canadian legal expert Richard McLaren is set to be released in December and is expected to provide more damning details of Russian cheating.

The ANOC president, Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, one of the most powerful administrators in world sport, gave voice to this embarrassment, telling delegates that reform of the anti-doping system would be impossible without “a neutral chair” of Wada and even suggested the agency should be moved from Montreal to Geneva, closer to the headquarters of most Olympic sports.

Reedie was also heavily criticised by ANOC delegates for the timing of the announcement that Wada was suspending the accreditation of Doha’s anti-doping laboratory, which came on the eve of the ANOC general assembly in the city.</s>GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — Russian sport is a long way from convincing the world that it has cleaned up its act, the World Anti-Doping Agency declared Sunday, pointing to the state’s failure to accept it was behind a doping program, its continued obstruction of testing, and a series of cyberattacks.

“It would be better if they were maybe a little bit more contrite,” WADA President Craig Reedie told The Associated Press after being re-elected unopposed for a second term.

Russia is seeking readmission to WADA a year after being declared non-compliant with the doping code, following the publication of a report detailing widespread cheating in track and field.

Fresh evidence of state-backed doping cover-ups was revealed by investigators ahead of the Rio de Janeiro Games, although WADA’s recommendation of a blanket ban on Russia’s Olympic team was rejected by the IOC.

Russia’s integrity is set to be challenged again when Canadian law professor Richard McLaren’s final doping report is published on Dec. 9, with the focus on winter sports.

Reedie said Russia still has to get “the rest of the world to believe that they have reformed and this (doping) won’t happen again. So there is much work to be done.”

At Sunday’s Foundation Board meeting, WADA officials outlined how Russia continues to frustrate anti-doping officials by denying access to so-called closed cities where athletes are training and also to a sealed-off laboratory in Moscow that contains samples sought by sporting federations.

The public criticism was delivered in front of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s anti-doping troubleshooter, Vitaly Smirnov, the former Soviet sports minister now heading Russia’s state-backed anti-doping commission.

“Russia has never had a state-sponsored system of doping,” Smirnov responded defiantly.

Vitaly Mutko, who was recently promoted from sports minister to deputy prime minister, was banned from attending the Rio Olympics after being accused by McLaren of ordering the cover-up of a failed drug test by a foreign soccer player.

A WADA presentation on Sunday flagged up claims by Mutko that McLaren’s report was “falsified” and threats to prosecute those assisting the investigators.

One of Mutko’s deputies at the sports ministry, Yuri Nagornykh, was ousted on Putin’s orders after McLaren said he helped to orchestrate cover-ups of hundreds of drug tests. But Smirnov said Nagornykh was not a member of the government because “he was deputy minister,” maintaining that “only ministers are members of the government.”

Russia’s unflinching denial of state involvement was rebutted by WADA, with Reedie endorsing “clear evidence of collusion between the laboratory and the ministry” from McLaren’s investigation.

Reedie does, however, believe there is a “willingness to resolve the problems.” And he will not insist on a full acceptance of guilt at government level as an “absolute condition” of Russia’s anti-doping body being cleared by WADA.

“It would be a great shame if they couldn’t be compliant because they couldn’t find a way of dealing with closed cities,” Reedie said, referring to the areas where the Russian military restricts access. “Maybe athletes shouldn’t go there.”

Also straining relations are the cyberattacks on WADA’s databases, which the agency attributes to Russia espionage groups – as they appeared designed to raise doubts about the integrity of sports stars from Western nations.

Records of “Therapeutic Use Exemptions,” which allow athletes to use otherwise-banned drugs because of a verified medical need, were leaked by a hacking group known as Fancy Bears.

“This doesn’t make international acceptance of Russian improvement any easier if this goes on,” Reedie said of the hacking.

While disclosing that hackers are still trying to obtain logins and passwords, WADA said it would continue to oppose the publication of athletes’ medical information. The agency said 143 TUEs were granted before or during the Rio Games, with a “handful” of the 11,303 competing athletes requiring more than one.

“The system works perfectly,” Reedie said, as the TUEs are “allocated and agreed by responsible people in sport.”

WADA will remain under the leadership of the 75-year-old Reedie for the next three years, despite elements of the Olympic world appearing uneasy with the agency’s attacks on Russia. Association of National Olympic Committees President Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah had wanted a “neutral chair” to take over from Reedie, who was supported by the International Olympic Committee.

The IOC congratulated Reedie on Sunday and said it “welcomed his commitment … to work towards the appointment of a neutral WADA President.”

Reedie responded: “I have always been (neutral). I will continue to be, and behave, as independently as I can.”

Rob Harris is at www.twitter.com/RobHarris and www.facebook.com/RobHarrisReports

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Craig Reedie is elected for a second term as President of the World Anti-Doping Agency.