Listening to I&I head Günter Younger speak at last week's media symposium in London made even the mere suggestion that the cash flow into WADA’s coffers might be cut by detractors who have, with some justification, lined up to castigate the organisation in recent weeks, seem ruinous and destructive.

As the diatribe continues from each side of the WADA divide, it is surely time to give even a modicum of credit to part of the administration which seems, on the surface at least, to be functioning with some degree of success.

This is not a team blessed with a multitude of resources - quite the opposite, in fact - yet, according to Younger, they have still managed to rid sport of 112 people whose actions contravened its very spirit in the two years since the I&I was established in October 2016.

They have also conducted investigations concerning widespread doping in Kenya, the covering-up of positive samples by both the leadership at the International Biathlon Union and the Bucharest Laboratory and even the long-running Operation Puerto case, which has hung over sport for more than a decade.

Their main piece of work, however, has been dealing with the evidence and information which arose from the McLaren Report.

Throughout the Russian saga, those tasked with handling the evidence have been telling us just how complex it is, particularly regarding the Moscow Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS).

"These are not your usual A sample positive, B sample positive cases," is a line favoured by the likes of WADA director general Olivier Niggli and International Federation officials.

While this is true, the statement has come across as an excuse for the lack of action taken by sporting bodies since the extent of Russian doping became apparent in late 2015.

A source of frustration for athletes and others, including Younger, is how Russian competitors have been able to participate in international sport during the Russian Anti-Doping Agency's (RUSADA) period of non-compliance.

But when you see exactly what the LIMS data looks like, you begin to understand.

Younger presented a slide depicting a typical piece of evidence obtained from the database during the symposium.

What it showed was reams and reams of letters, symbols and numbers, all of which are largely indecipherable unless you are an expert who knows what they are searching for.

To make things worse, the LIMS data currently in the possession of WADA is nowhere near the full picture.

The raw data needed to corroborate and support the information WADA already has, which will lead to the sanctioning and exoneration of those involved in the doping scheme, is still locked inside the sealed Moscow Laboratory.

As we all know, this has to be provided by Russian authorities to WADA before December 31, otherwise the suspension which RUSADA only escaped from last month could be reimposed.

If Russia does eventually hand over the data, it will be up to the I&I to assess its credibility and legitimacy, which has taken on added significance given the scandal-hit nation's track record of destroying evidence.

"An investigator always has doubts but whatever we get we will do another authentication process, we will compare it with what we have. We know what we have to look at to make sure it is genuine," Younger told insidethegames.

"The first step if it passes, and it corroborates 100 per cent our LIMS, then there is no need for a detailed authentication as the chances of manipulation are small.

"If there is not consistency, then we need to find out why and that is going to be a more complicated process because we have to do it on a case-by-case basis.

"The biggest challenge when we get the data is to make sure we have the genuine one.

"As soon as we have that, I am very confident we can exonerate lots of athletes."

The data will allow WADA to either sanction, or clear, those involved in the systematic manipulation of the anti-doping system committed by Russia at major events stretching over several years.

Athletes and the WADA administration have been at loggerheads recently but here, Younger says, they share the same aim.

"We do not expect that we will learn more than we already know but what we expect is to have stronger cases to prosecute and this is what athletes actually want us to do," he added.

It is pertinent to reiterate here that the job of assessing and analysing the raw "screening data" which is the last piece of the complicated puzzle is not being carried out by an army of staff.

The I&I is comprised of just eight personnel across its Lausanne and Montreal departments. The team has been bolstered by the appointment of a former law enforcement officer to lead its confidential information unit, which deals with evidence given by whistleblowers, but the I&I could undoubtedly do with additional assistance.

After all, the importance of the I&I is clear for all to see. Had a dedicated investigations team been established before it eventually was, it is likely initial suggestions of a doping problem in Russia, first mentioned in 2010 and then again in 2012, would have been probed much earlier.

Not only that, but added resources would enable the I&I to conduct investigations at a quicker pace. In certain cases, that would end the long wait for justice often felt by athletes in recent years.

WADA's failure to do so thus far is largely down to budgetary reasons; there is simply not enough money in the bank to pump endless amounts of cash into specific areas of its operation.

Its budget, which currently stands at $32 million (£24.5 million/€28 million) per year, is set to increase by eight per cent in the next three years and it will be interesting to see how much of that is diverted to the I&I.

"I learned in my career that you can only work with the resources that you have," said Younger.

"I present my results and present how we work and leave it to the stakeholders [to decide] whether they want to finance or put more resources in or not.

"We have been doing good work and we have done a lot of investigations in the last two years.

"We have done that without the amount of resources that we would like, and you can just imagine what we would be able to do if we had more.

"I am not afraid that they will cut our budget but if they do so then I have to deal with it.

"We will have to reduce the investigations but what I heard from a lot of feedback, particularly from athletes, is that they are very happy with what we are doing.

"This is the biggest thing; if you have trust you do not need resources."

Trust in anti-doping is at its lowest ebb following the decision from the WADA Executive Committee to reinstate RUSADA, which continues to reverberate around sporting corridors, at a fractious meeting in September.

The widespread criticism from athletes and National Anti-Doping Organisations, some of whom held an emergency summit at the White House last week to hammer home their point even further, has seemingly put the entire WADA administration on the defensive.

Younger claims to be totally independent from WADA but has rarely publicly strayed from the opinion of the leadership and his response to the attacks on the organisation's credibility and reputation is no different.

The German policeman left those in the room in no doubt as to who he was referring to with his constant mentions of how he was a "big fan" of "operational tactics" rather than just talking about doing something.

"I need to say, because there are a lot of experts out there, there are very few people in the world who were involved in this investigation from the very beginning," Younger added.

"One of them is me. I think I have a big interest in us finishing this properly and I want to make sure that all the athletes who were part of the system are sanctioned properly.

"We need to extract the cheaters and bring them to prosecution."