Russian officials brace for new doping allegations in documentary

The Russian government has lashed out at an upcoming documentary that will reportedly allege that the country’s sports minister was involved with organized doping.

The documentary by Germany’s ARD, scheduled to broadcast on Wednesday, claims to have evidence that sports minister Vitaly Mutko intervened to conceal a soccer player’s positive test.

It will reportedly also show video footage of banned coaches working with elite athletes in Russia.

The Kremlin will consider doping abuse accusations against Russian athletes as slander until it gets proofs to the contrary, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday.More:https://tass.ru/en/sport/880719
A spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin said the government is acting to eradicate doping.

“At the same time, this does not mean that we are ready to accept some groundless statements or charges before we hear any sensible proof or confirmations of this slander,” Dmitry Peskov was quoted as saying by the Russian news agency Tass. “We will be regarding this as absolute calumny.”

Late last year, all of the country’s track and field athletes were banned from international competition after a World Anti-Doping Agency report alleged widespread cheating under the direction of coaches and officials.

Additional allegations have arisen through subsequent media reports, suggesting that doping has been prevalent in other Russian sports and that workers in a Russian drug-testing lab were involved in manipulating samples.

Government officials have vowed to make reforms in hopes of having their track athletes reinstated for the upcoming 2016 Summer Olympics.

david.wharton@latimes.com

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