Putin dismisses doping shock: – There is no evidence – Dagbladet.no

(Dagbladet): Yesterday an independent commission, appointed by the International Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), with its report on doping and corruption in the athletics world.

The report came a recommendation to the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) to suspend the Russian Association of Athletics Federations (Araf) from competitions.

Now, Russia’s top leaders arrived on the scene – and through a spokesman dismisses President Vladimir Putin of threats.

– As long as there is no evidence, it is difficult to assess the accusations really seems unfounded, said Putin’s spokesman Dmitry Peskov, according to The Guardian.

Asked whether the Kremlin’s views on the accusations against Russian athletes, sports leaders and anti-doping system, responding Putin’s spokesman following:

– It is not our responsibility to think about the reasons for such a scandal, said Peskov.

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) will meet in meetings this week to consider how to approach the recommendation to exclude Russia from the athletes.

– This applies not just athletics. Entire international elite sport has a black day today, said former athletics coach Johan Kaggestad Dagbladet yesterday.

There are only seven months to the Olympics in Rio starts.

– If Russia suspended we must eliminate Junior Championships – cancel championship and hold it somewhere else. The worst that can happen is that Russia set up in the championship and we find that nothing has been done, said Ed Warner, director of athletics in Britain.

– Not only Russia

Yesterday told leader WADA Commission head Dick Pound following:

– We have had a meeting with Russia’s sports minister about this report. We told him that he had to wait bad news, said Dick Pound during the presentation.

Pound added:

– we think not Russia is the only country with a doping problem and we do not believe that athletics is the only sport with a doping problem, said Pound.

Wada also recommend that the anti-doping laboratory in Moscow get your license removed, and that the leader should be removed from his position.

According to the report shall be 1,417 doping tests have been destroyed there deliberately to destroy evidence. Now it is recommended to ban Russian athletes until “it is cleaned up.”

Bribery

The leader on the publicized laboratory, Grigory Rodchenkov shall have admitted to having broken doping samples. He is accused also of having received money to hide the tests.

At the same time it is claimed that the state police (FSB) of Russia has watched instead. FSB accused of having infiltrated doping laboratory in Sochi Olympics in 2014 and monitored the anti-doping efforts during the championship.

The report is 325 pages, but not everything will be made public because there is an ongoing criminal investigation. The report calls “corruption and bribery at the highest level in the IAAF,” is passed on to Interpol.

– We have reviewed individuals, laboratory, shown violating testing rules, obfuscation and payment of money for secrecy, said Dick Pound.

The report recommends that five Russian middle distance runners will be banned for life. The same applies to the athletes’ coaches and supporters.

– It is disappointing to see the extent of this. It’s worse than we thought. I really hope Russia will take this with him and get a fresh start. We recommend an expulsion for 2016 says Dick Pound.

– It could be that there is no Russian athletes in Brazil Olympics. I hope not, but it can not be excluded. Russia may participate in the Olympics, but they must take therapy and surgery. They have a half years in coming. I hope and think they can handle it, says Pound.

• Esten O. Sæther comments: Putin chooses quickly to start an ice sport war.

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