Major US newspaper the New York Times published a recent interview saying that Moscow, for the first time, has admitted to mass doping in Russia’s sports system. However, the Kremlin denies it was state-sponsored, and said it will investigate comments made by Russia’s Acting Director-General of RUSADA, the country's anti-doping agency.
In an interview published by the NYT, Anna Antseliovich is quoted as saying that doping in Russia had been an ‘institutional conspiracy’. The interview has drawn a mixed reaction in Russia.
RUSADA released a statement, saying that Anna Antseliovich was citing the text of the second McLaren report into doping in Russia, which spoke of an ‘institutional conspiracy that existed across summer and winter sports athletes.
Rio 2016 Olympic rhythmic gymnastics champions welcomed as they arrive at Sheremetyevo International Airport on August 23, 2016 from Rio de Janeiro, the host city of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games./CFP Photo
RUSADA said this created the impression that the director-general had admitted to a doping system, and added that her comments had been taken out of context. The NYT interview comes after Russian President Vladimir Putin said there was no state-sponsored doping system at his annual press conference last Friday.
Russia admits to having doping problems just like other countries do, and said it must do all it can to prevent the use of doping.
Meanwhile, hundreds of Russian athletes are being re-tested for doping, and the 2017 bobsleigh and skeleton world championships have been moved from Sochi to the German resort of Koenigssee.
The latest report by Richard McLaren, who has been investigating doping allegations in Russia, said that more than 1,000 Russian athletes, including Olympic medalists, benefited from a state-sponsored doping program between 2011 and 2015.
(Story by CCTV’s Julia Lyubova)
