When Dick Pound investigated Russia’s systematic, state-sponsored doping program, he wanted to send a message: Beware, no country is too big to escape scrutiny and punishment.

Now, more than six weeks after a Pound-led independent commission released its scathing report on Russia, rarely a day passes without more doping-related news.

“The big deterrent coming out of the report is taking on one of the giants in the field: Russia,’’ said Pound, founding president of the World Anti-Doping Agency. “That’s a real wake-up call. A lot of sports out there are saying, ‘There but for the grace of God go I. Maybe we better clean up our act before someone cleans it up for us.’

“If this report had been about French Equatorial Africa, it probably wouldn’t have had nearly the same effect.’’

The flood of recent doping-related sanctions and suspensions in Russia, Kenya, and nearly a dozen other countries appears to support Pound’s conclusion. Yet, he doesn’t see the current state of affairs as the worst period of doping abuses. He considers the latest scandals part of a continuum that dates to the sports system employed by the Soviet Union and communist countries across Central and Eastern Europe, most memorably by East Germany.

“My guess is that a lot of the former Soviet Union stuff has simply continued,’’ said Pound. “That’s kind of what we found in the Russian track and field investigation.’’

The investigation produced a 300-plus-page report filled with hundreds of allegations that implicated athletes, coaches, doctors, trainers, and multiple Russian sports organizations in systematic doping. Some of the more shocking details included Russia’s secret service intimidating drug testers, one lab destroying more than 1,400 samples, and money exchanging hands to keep cheaters from getting caught.

In the wake of the Russia report and its fallout, Pound and others in the anti-doping community see hopeful signs in the quick reactions of WADA and the IAAF, the international governing body for track and field. WADA suspended its accreditation of Moscow’s anti-doping lab one day after the report was released. Then, a few days after that, the IAAF banned Russia, preventing its athletes from competing in international events.

And on Dec. 10, the International Olympic Committee’s executive board proposed independent oversight of the anti-doping system. Such restructuring would remove sports organizations from the equation, ending their responsibility for testing and managing results. The anti-doping role played by international sports federations such as the IAAF has long been seen as a conflict of interest because they must police and promote their sport.

Olympic leaders would like to see anti-doping operations placed under WADA’s control. And they would like the new, independent system in place for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

“As an anti-doping community, [the Russia report] puts the question to us right now: If we could have done something about East Germany at that time, what would we have done?’’ said Travis Tygart, CEO of the US Anti-Doping Agency. “That’s the moment we now find ourselves in. It’s right in front of us and we have an opportunity to learn from the mistakes of the past to ensure that this never happens again and hold to account those who were involved.’’

Medal test awaits

Given recent headlines, the anti-doping community and sports governing bodies will have plenty of opportunities to take action.

Kenya is in the midst of doping-related turmoil with far-reaching implications for its proud distance-running tradition. In late November, Kenyan track officials banned seven athletes from competition, then the IAAF provisionally suspended three leading Kenyan track officials for allegedly subverting anti-doping efforts. December started with the Italian Olympic Committee requesting two-year doping bans for 26 track and field athletes who allegedly attempted to avoid drug tests. Several of the athletes were expected to compete in the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Meanwhile, Pound held back portions of the Russia report related to IAAF transgressions as Interpol coordinated a French-led global investigation. French authorities have charged former IAAF president Lamine Diack with corruption and money laundering. Diack, who left his IAAF post in August after 16 years, allegedly accepted bribes to cover up positive Russian drug tests.

In early 2016, it is anticipated that the sections of the Russia report related to IAAF corruption will be released. Additionally, Pound noted that, “Turkey is a country in everyone’s sights.’’

The one certainty about recent doping scandals? They will hang over the track and field competition at the 2016 Rio Olympics, raising concerns about diminished fan support.

“The biggest alarm bell is that people just don’t care about watching something where the outcome is fixed or being altered as a result of cheating,’’ said Pound. “When the essential nature of sport disappears, then so will the interest in it.’’

Outside of track and field, the International Weightlifting Federation, the sports global governing body, recently barred Bulgaria’s weight lifters from the Rio Games. The reason: 11 of the country’s lifters tested positive for doping this year. And Romania lost an Olympic weightlifting berth because its athletes had too many positive results during the qualification period for Rio.

In addition to Russia, WADA declared five other countries — Andorra, Argentina, Bolivia, Israel, and Ukraine — non-compliant during the agency’s Foundation Board meeting in mid-November. Argentina, Bolivia, and Ukraine earned the rebuke for using non-accredited laboratories. And It was determined that Andorra and Israel don’t have code-compliant rules in place.

“Now is the call to action,’’ said Tygart. “It’s the gut check. Are we in this to say, ‘Hey, we do some testing?’ Or, are we in this to actually win for clean athletes? We have to roll up our sleeves and win this for clean athletes.’’

Setting the trap

Three-time Olympian Adam Nelson knows all too well how cheaters can cost clean athletes. In 2013, Nelson became the shot put champion for the 2004 Athens Olympics after the original winner’s doping sample was retested and came back positive for performance-enhancing drugs. Nelson said athletes “all know when something doesn’t look or smell right’’ and can do more to protect sports from doping.

“A lot of what’s going on when it comes to doping continues happening because we’re looking at it from the top down,’’ said Nelson. “At the end of the day, I think it’s time for the athlete to take a different role than they have. They have to start taking a little bit more ownership of the sport because it’s clear that the stewards of the sport are not always looking out for the whole sport and for the athletes that are complying with the rules.’’

More than that, Nelson would like anti-doping efforts to go beyond “building better mousetraps’’ to catch performance-enhancing drug users. He envisions financial incentives for athletes who stay clean, possibly payments that they receive from the International Olympic Committee or sport federations at the end of their careers.

But for now, anti-doping measures emphasize sanctions, suspensions and criteria for compliance. And governing bodies such as the IAAF remain heavily involved in all facets of the system.

On Dec. 11, the IAAF announced how Russia can become compliant and return to international track and field competitions. The criteria include cutting ties to anyone with “past involvement in doping,’’ resolving any pending disciplinary cases against athletes and their support personnel, and investigating potential further cases. Also, Russia must demonstrate that it can comply with WADA’s and the IAAF’s anti-doping regulations and that the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) can operate “effectively and without interference.’’

Until RUSADA is reinstated, the IAAF will be responsible for testing elite Russian athletes with samples to be analyzed in laboratories outside Russia. Once Russia regains its IAAF membership, athletes who want to compete in an international event must demonstrate that they have undergone “at least three no-notice out-of-competition tests’’ during the six months before the event.

“There’s going to be some pain and suffering to get out of this,’’ said Pound. “It’s been allowed to build up over a period of years. It’s not going to be cured right away and there will have to be some surgery. Things have to happen, but the good thing is that they are happening.’’

When asked if Russia could put an effective anti-doping system in place in time to be eligible for the Rio Games, Pound added: “Is it possible for the Russians to put a system in place, subject to supervision by outsiders, in time for Rio in seven months or so? It’s possible, but you’re not going to change the culture in that short of time.’’

That is the grand ambition. Because without changing the culture, it will always be a matter of where, not when, the next doping scandal surfaces.

Shira Springer can be reached at springer@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @ShiraSpringer.