Russian official taking heat for doping allegations blasts NBA, NHL testing
Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko at a ceremony on Feb. 3.
Faced with allegations of widespread cheating among athletes in his country, Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko has consistently fired back at critics.
Now he is taking aim at the NBA and NHL.
Speaking to reporters this weekend, Mutko criticized the two pro leagues for what he characterized as lax anti-doping enforcement.
“Nobody does doping tests at those leagues,” Mutko was quoted as saying by the Russian news agency Tass. “They do doping tests once every four years, when coming to the Olympics.”
Russia’s track and field program has been banned from international competition following a World Anti-Doping Agency report that alleged systemic cheating among athletes, coaches and officials.
A wave of Russian athletes in other sports -- including tennis star Maria Sharapova -- have recently been caught using meldonium, a heart medication that was added to the banned-substance list this year.
Mutko predicted that eventually “the whole world will at last see that Russian victories are not built on” cheating.
Get our high school sports newsletter
Prep Rally is devoted to the SoCal high school sports experience, bringing you scores, stories and a behind-the-scenes look at what makes prep sports so popular.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
