Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said that allegations he had helped cover up a top footballer's positive doping test "were silly and that he and Russia were being smeared as payback for winning the right to host the 2018 World Cup," according to Jack Stubbs of REUTERS.
Mutko, who is battling to end a doping scandal that has placed a question mark over Russian athletes' right to compete at the 2016 Rio Olympics, "was responding to allegations against him made by German public broadcaster ARD/WDR." The German broadcaster, whose reports "led to the suspension of Russia's track-and-field athletes, said an alleged internal sports ministry e-mail exchange discussing a footballer's failed test said the matter should be forwarded to 'VL.'" Backing its sports minister, the Kremlin said the allegations made by ARD/WDR were "unfounded slander" and based on testimonials by fugitives such as former Russian anti-doping chief Grigory Rodchenkov. Mutko said that "then doping scandal was payback from those unhappy that Russia had won the rights to host the FIFA World Cup in 2018" following allegations it bribed officials from FIFA. Mutko: "One of the reasons for the doping scandal with Russian sportspeople is the desire to dredge up compromising information with regard to the 2018 World Cup. First they tried through FIFA but didn't succeed. Now they are investigating the laundering of bribes. They are trying to get in from the other side" (REUTERS, 6/9). ESPN reported Mutko argued the ARD documentary could have been aimed to show that Russia's anti-doping efforts "were not genuine."
It came at a time when Russia "is hoping the IAAF will lift its suspension of Russia's track and field athletes in time to compete in the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro," and Russia Today quoted him as saying, "This is a sort of an information attack. The aim of this and other publications is clear to me -- it is to influence [the ruling] of the athletics committee on the eve of the meeting" (ESPN, 6/9).
FLAW IN THE SYSTEM: The BBC reported Mutko said that the system of retesting for doping offences at the 2008 and 2012 Olympics "is flawed and should be scrapped." IOC said that a total of 55 stored samples from those Games "have tested positive." Russia said that includes 22 of its athletes -- but that two "were cleared after B samples tested negative." Mutko: "All the samples that laboratory tested must be declared invalid. A laboratory which falsely declared a positive test result must be stripped of its accreditation" (BBC, 6/9).
HIGH RESULTS: In London, Samuel Steven wrote Russian three-time Olympic Silver Medalist Tatyana Firova "argued that athletes should be able to take banned substances," saying they would not "achieve high results" without them.
The 33-year-old 400m runner, who recently failed a re-examined drugs test from the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, won Silver in the 4x400m relay in '04, '08 and '12 and has argued that "bureaucrats" must share responsibility for the doping scandal. She said, "We sportsmen are performers, we follow the rules that are given to us by the system. A normal person can take banned substances if they want to. So why can't athletes take them as well? How else can we achieve high results?" Firova admitted that "she is worried ahead of the decision" on June 17 where it will be decided if Russian track and field athletes will be allowed to participate next month at the Olympics in Rio (INDEPENDENT, 6/8).
