Putin May Discuss Doping Scandal With Russia’s Olympic Authorities

Russia’s doping scandal will not be the main issue on the agenda of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s upcoming meeting with Russian sports authority representatives, however it may be discussed by the sides, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Wednesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Later in the day, Putin will meet with the heads of sports authorities and federations and discuss the preparation of Russian athletes for the upcoming 2016 Olympic Games in Brazil.

"We can expect that they will somehow touch upon the issue and [Russia’s] Minister of Sport [Vitaly Mutko] will report to the president on the situation with the known accusations of our athletes on doping cases… I do not call on you to expect that the central theme will be the theme of doping, it will not be central," Peskov told report.

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.

According to the report, Mutko had been 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.

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