Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the same day that the Russian government would treat the charges by ARD as “absolute slander” until someone presented “comprehensible proof or confirmation” of the allegations. The fourth episode of “Doping Secret: Showdown for Russia” was broadcast by ARD late on Wednesday in which this allegation was broadcast, reports Tass.
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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.
“We have agreed a road-map with WADA under which the testing of Russian athletes is carried out in full by UK Anti-Doping (UKAD), who were selected by WADA as RUSADA’s main partner”, the Russian statement continued.
Mutko also questioned the reliability of doping retests of samples from the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, saying they should be tossed because of alleged failings in the way the samples were processed.
Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko says claims he intervened to hide a Krasnodar player’s positive drug test are “laughable” and suggested the doping furore was a response to the nation winning the right to host the 2018 World Cup.
The Sports Ministry said in its statement it understood doping was a large-scale global problem.
He posed as a well-known anti-doping specialist and received worldwide renown in the anti-doping movement for his work, the statement said.
It also claims it has videos of banned coaches continuing to train Russian athletes.
Russian officials said two of the athletes were cleared when their “B” samples tested negative, contradicting the positive “A” samples.
The IOC has reported 55 positive findings in retesting of stored samples from the 2008 Beijing Games and 2012 London Olympics.
Mutko said those two cases were enough justification for the entire retesting program to be scrapped.
Mutko has described ARD’s latest documentary as a “targeted attack” against Russian Federation.
Three Krasnodar players count among Russia’s team at the European Championships in France, opening their campaign against England on Saturday.
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But Rodchenkov’s allegations of high-level cheating involving secret-service agents, hidden holes in the wall, and tampered urine samples have grabbed the attention of many important worldwide figures, including global Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, who has promised to investigate all charges and to take action, if necessary, against any and all wrongdoers before the Rio Olympics.
