Russia denies fresh doping allegations relating to sports ministry
Last Updated: 08/06/16 1:56pm
A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin has strongly denied allegations that the sports ministry might be involved in covering up doping cases in the country.
A documentary by Germany's ARD to be broadcast on Wednesday evening alleges it has evidence that Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko has personally intervened to bury a leading football player's positive test and video footage of banned coaches continuing to work with elite athletes.
But Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov insisted Russia is committed to working with international bodies to battle doping and that it views the allegations against Mutko as libel.
Peskov said: "Until there is hard evidence to back up those claims, that libel, we will treat this as libel."
Mutko himself said the allegations were an attempt to sway a ruling on Russia's ban from international athletics ahead of the Rio Olympics.
After being suspended by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) last year, Russia is trying to convince sports authorities it is serious about rooting out cheats in time for the Games in Brazil in August.
The IAAF will decide whether Russia has done enough to have the ban repealed at a meeting in Vienna on June 17.
"The aim of this film is obvious: to influence the committee on the reinstatement of Russian athletics on the eve of its meeting," Mutko was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency.
The Sports Ministry did not directly address the allegations but it said Russia had agreed a reform programme with the World Anti-Doping Agency and it understood doping was a large-scale global problem.
"Solving it requires a consolidation of efforts aimed at a continuous improvement of the anti-doping system by all interested parties," the ministry said in a statement.
