Putin pushes for a new anti-doping commission
MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin called Friday for a new antidoping commission to be created to shape Russia’s future strategy, as the country faces possible exclusion from the Rio de Janeiro Olympics in August.
Putin’s intervention came as former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev wrote to International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach to oppose a blanket ban on the Russian team, saying that a collective sanction was “unacceptable.”
Putin did not directly address allegations that Russian government officials helped to cover up hundreds of doping cases, but said the state was resolutely opposed to performance-enhancing drug use.
“In sport there is not and cannot be a place for any doping,” Putin said. “Sport must be clean, and an athlete’s health must be properly protected.”
He added there was a need to “cooperate closely” on doping with the International Olympic Committee and the World Anti-Doping Agency, the latter of which welcomed a court ruling Thursday to uphold a ban on Russia’s scandal-hit track and field team. Putin told a meeting of Russia’s cabinet that the commission, under the direction of the Russian Olympic Committee, would provide “rapid development and tough control for the effective realization of a national plan on the fight against doping.”
He added that the commission would be “independent” and would include Russians and foreigners in the fields of medicine, law and sports administration. He did not give a timescale for the commission to begin its work. Putin proposed Vitaly Smirnov, 81, an honorary member of the International Olympic Committee member and a veteran of Russian and Soviet sports administration, to lead the panel.