Russia on Thursday "called into question the veracity of a new report" by the World Anti-Doping Agency which accused Russian athletes of still doping, but the country "promised to facilitate the agency's work," according to Dmitry Solovyov of REUTERS. Russia is "bracing itself for a decision" by the IAAF on Friday "which could determine whether its athletes can take part in the Rio Olympics in August." In its report, WADA "concluded that Russian athletes continued to fail drug tests and obstruct doping control officers." Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, "I do not know what these assertions are based on. They need to be thoroughly analyzed by our sport experts. It's not clear what WADA is basing all this on. There have been allegations (in the past) where WADA has based its results on concrete tests. But what are these (latest) allegations based on?" Peskov declined to say if the Kremlin "would consider legal action if the IAAF ruled against Russia, a course of action Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko has not ruled out." Reacting to WADA's "damning report," Mutko said on Thursday that the authorities "were ready to assist the agency in testing Russian sports people for doping any way it could and in any part of Russia" (REUTERS, 6/16).
