Russia open to working with World Anti-Doping Agency
Last Updated: 10/11/15 9:34am
Russia has said it is open to closer co-operation with anti-doping chiefs to eliminate "any" irregularities from its testing regime.
The statement came a day after a damning report commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) exposed "state-supported" doping.
It also recommended that Russia should be suspended from world athletics.
The report said Russia had used an obscure laboratory to hide doping and the London Olympics had been "sabotaged" by the participation of athletes who should have been banned.
It also found the country's Sports Ministry had issued direct orders to "manipulate particular samples" and knew about agents from the FSB intelligence service interfering with lab work.
The report recommended lifetime bans for five middle-distance runners - including London 2012 medal winners Mariya Savinova and Ekaterina Poistogova - and five coaches.
Dick Pound, chairman of the commission behind the report, warned that Russian athletes were likely to miss the Rio Olympics in 2016 unless the country could demonstrate it was cleaning up its act.
"Russia has been and will be fully committed to the fight against doping in sport," the Sports Ministry said in a statement.
But Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko also said there was no evidence for the accusations against the Russian Athletics Federation, and that 1,417 samples had been destroyed shortly before an inspection at WADA's request.
Mr Pound said on Monday it was "not possible" that Mr Mutko - also a FIFA executive committee member with a key role ahead of the 2018 football World Cup - was unaware of what was happening on his watch.
The new president of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) Lord Coe has told Sky News it is "possible" he could impose a ban on Russia at a meeting on Friday.
Prominent figures in the sport have backed the British former Olympic champion to rebuild trust in the sport, including marathon runner Paula Radcliffe.
