IOC President Hopes Russia Will Cooperate on Anti-Doping Case

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach said Wednesday he believes Russia would cooperate with an investigation into the country's anti-doping compliance in order to be permitted to participate in 2016 Olympic Games.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Monday, a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) commission issued a report accusing Russia of numerous violations of global anti-doping codes and recommended the country be banned from international athletics, including the 2016 Olympics.

"I think also Russia will cooperate to make progress and to be sure that Russian athletics are compliant with WADA. This is what it needs to be in order to participate in the Olympic Games," Back told the New Zealand 3News channel in an interview.

The IOC head added that the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) would draw its conclusion of the WADA report and decide if it is necessary to impose sanctions on Russian athletes.

The WADA commission report claimed that Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko was aware of numerous cases of doping test manipulations, and that the Russian Federal Security Service was complicit in the use of doping by Russian athletes. Mutko has denied the accusations.

The Russian Ministry of Sport said it would carefully examine the facts and conclusions of the report and take appropriate measures.