Russia's press "reacted with anger at the international report which found evidence of state-backed sports doping over a four-year period," according to the BBC. Pro-government papers "dismiss the validity" of the World Anti-Doping Agency report, which some said was influenced by foreign governments as part of a deliberate anti-Russia campaign. State-owned Rossiskaya Gazeta "wades in" with the theory that WADA "is not politically neutral and is at the centre of an anti-Russia campaign." Nikolai Dolgopolov wrote: "The Wada commission that was preparing the report under the supervision of its Canadian boss described itself as 'independent.' This is highly unlikely. The work was carried out as if following somebody's orders. The Russians are to blame, full stop." Pro-government Izvestia thinks Russian athletes "were just pawns in a bigger game." It argued, "Sport is too big a temptation not to draw political profit from it." Some, however, believe that "Russia does share at least some of the blame." An editorial in Moscow business daily Vedomosti said Moscow's "yearning to win at all costs" has caused a "crisis of distrust." In Sport Express, former world No. 1 tennis player Yevgeni Kafelnikov provided "a rare voice in support of the report's findings." He said, "I am disinclined to think that the allegations against Russian sport are the handiwork of our foes. I don't think that WADA representatives would throw around such accusations willy-nilly. Evidently, such things really did take place" (
BBC, 7/19).
