PUTIN PLACED AT HEART OF DOPING ISSUE

VLADIMIR PUTIN, the president of Russia, and Vitaly Mutko, the deputy prime minister, are both named as playing active roles in Russia’s state-sponsored doping scandal in an explosive new documentary.

The pair are cited on film by Grigory Rodchenkov, the former head of the Moscow lab who was central to the doping and cover-ups involving more than 1,000 Russian sportspeople.

Rodchenkov was arrested in 2011 for drug dealing, then attempted suicide and was sent to a psychiatric unit. In the new film he cites Putin, specifically, as the man who got him out of prison to oversee the Sochi Olympics doping programme. ‘Putin requested me,’ he said, describing the move as his ‘redemption’.

Putin and Mutko have always denied the existence of statesupported doping even after several WADA-commissioned reports concluded it happened. New first-person testimony alleging they were actively involved will cause fresh uproar.

It could also cause ructions in US-Russia relations early in Donald Trump’s presidency. Trump, inaugurated on Friday, is friendly with Putin. America is currently harbouring Rodchenkov.

The world premiere of the documentary, called Icarus and attended by The Mail on Sunday on Friday night in Utah, outlines a chain of command in the doping programme from Putin to Mutko (formerly sports minister) to Yury Nagornykh (Mutko’s deputy) to Rodchenkov.

Russia’s official stance is that Rodchenkov was a lone wolf rogue.

Putin (above) says the lab chief has a ‘scandalous reputation’ and ‘dragged all sorts of filth [drugs] into the country’ as part of a plot to smear Russia.

Separately, The Mail on Sunday have been told FIFA president Gianni Infantino made a private call to Mutko last September, asking him in effect to step away from football to avoid further embarrassment to FIFA. Mutko is a powerful FIFA Council member.

He ignored Infantino’s request. Asked to confirm the conversation, a FIFA spokesperson said: ‘No comment.’