UKAD chairman Trevor Pearce called for "robust changes" to regain trust in the organisation amid the Russian doping scandal in a statement released today.

The National Anti-Doping Organisation hailed yesterday's confirmation that WADA had successfully retrieved the data from the Moscow Laboratory.

But UKAD also criticised WADA for the standard of its communication after the December 31 deadline, set when the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) was controversially reinstated in September, lapsed without the global watchdog accessing the data at the facility.

"The passing of the deadline, and the poor communication surrounding it, only served to further alienate athletes and WADA’s key stakeholders, and promote distrust in the anti-doping system," Pearce said. 

UKAD also offered 10 matters for the organisation to consider, including a call for an independent review of WADA's inspection of the laboratory - which took longer than expected before a three-member team eventually collected the data and took it out of Russia to be authenticated - to "gather lessons learnt".

Pearce claimed the anti-doping community and "clean athletes everywhere" expect WADA to provide a "timely update" on the verification of the data, a process WADA has admitted could take months.

UKAD added that the votes of individual WADA Executive Commitee members when it considers a recommendation from the Compliance Review Committee at its meeting on Tuesday (January 22) should be made public and carried out with the "appropriate rigour and objectivity".

They also urged Russian authorities to explain the reasons why they missed the deadline, which the country could still be punished for.

Among the other calls from UKAD was that candidates standing to replace Sir Craig Reedie as WADA President be challenged on their plans "for future non-compliance issues" to avoid a repeat of the Russian crisis.

WADA vice-president Linda Helleland, Polish Sports Minister Witold Bańka, Flemish Sports Minister Philippe Muyters and Dominican Republic's Marcos Diaz are currently in the running to succeed Sir Craig, while another candidate could still emerge.

UKAD also backed Helleland's calls for an independent review of the Russian scandal, later shelved by the Norwegian after she encountered strong opposition from sports movement representatives at WADA.

Independent checks on the anti-doping operation at major sporting events in Russia should also be carried out, UKAD said.

"Missing a deadline, like that experienced regarding the 31 December 2018 deadline, should not be tolerated," Pearce said.

"WADA now finds itself at another critical juncture for the future of the global anti-doping system. 

"The WADA Executive Committee must consider the recommendation of the independent CRC and remember that for a regulator to be effective it must be clear, transparent, and rigorous in the applications of its rules and processes.

"It is not for UKAD to second guess the outcome of the January 22 decision. 

"However, we now look to WADA to ensure that appropriate rigour and objectivity is applied to its decision making.

"We do know however, that the matter will not end here."

Sir Craig claimed yesterday that gaining access to the data and underlying analytical data at the laboratory was a "major breakthrough for clean sport".

He also stressed that, once data has been authenticated, WADA could start helping International Federations and other organisations to prosecute or exonerate Russian athletes involved in the doping scheme.

RUSADA and the Russian Ministry of Sport must now "procure that any re-analysis of samples required by WADA following review of such data is completed by no later than 30 June 2019" as part of the reinstatement criteria.

RUSADA could still be sanctioned for missing the deadline, although it is thought that, behind the scenes, WADA could be reluctant to banish Russia again now that its team has finally retrieved the data.

insidethegames has asked WADA for a comment on the statement from UKAD.