Russia admits to doping

Photo: The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

The Russian track federation plans to partially admit to the charges levelled against it by the World Anti-Doping Agency commission as it bids to avoid a ban from competition.

The federation's acting president, Vadim Zelichenok, told The Associated Press on Thursday that Russia has prepared a response to the sport's governing body, whose council is due to decide Friday on whether to suspend Russia.

If Russia is banned, the country's track and field team could be excluded from next year's Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

"We admit some things, we argue with some things, some are already fixed, it's a variety," Zelichenok said, declining to provide further details. "It's not for the press."

Monday's report recommended that the Russian track federation be suspended, saying its athletes and officials were involved in "extensive" use of performance-enhancing drugs, obstructed doping tests and helped to cover up drug use. The report said Zelichenok "refused to co-operate" with investigators.

Even if Russia's track and field team is banned, Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko told the AP on Thursday that the country has no intention of boycotting the Olympics.

Speaking in a telephone interview, Mutko said there will "not in any case" be a boycott.

"Russia is against a boycott. Russia is against political interference in sport," Mutko said. "Understand that Russia is a dependable partner of the international Olympic movement."

Mutko also appealed for Russia's track team to be allowed to compete, arguing that a blanket ban would unfairly punish clean athletes.

"It will be painful for those athletes with clean consciences who could compete, that's the first thing. And the second thing is that it goes against the spirit of the WADA code," Mutko said. "The commission itself writes about it in its report. It's about protecting the athletes with clean consciences."

During the Cold War, the United States and allies boycotted the 1980 Moscow Olympics in protest at the Soviet Union. Four years later, there was a Soviet-led boycott of the Olympics in Los Angeles.

On Wednesday, Russian President Vladimir Putin insisted clean athletes should be allowed to compete and asked Russian sports officials to carry out an internal investigation into the allegations made in the doping report. Mutko said Russia would provide constant updates about its investigation.

"Practically every day, at the end of the day, we release some kind of information message about the steps we're taking and we will continue to do that," Mutko said. "We're prepared to inform international society about the steps we're taking, the investigation, the decisions."

The Russian government has consistently slammed the WADA commission's report for what it says is a lack of evidence. Mutko said there was an overreliance on confidential sources and condemned the inclusion of material from undercover recordings made by whistleblowers, which he said violated the rights of those accused of doping.

The scandal also entered the arena of international diplomacy as the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a stinging critique of the report's authors.

"The position of the special commission on doping with regards to Russian athletes looks extremely biased, politicized," ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said in her weekly briefing, adding that sources cited in the report seem "extremely doubtful."