"I do fully accept the decisions taken by the IAAF in respect to Russian track-and-field sports. I do acknowledge that they are reasonable and result from a serious management crisis in the Russian Athletic Federation as well as from well-rooted doping problem which goes back to the Soviet era," Mutko wrote in the letter obtained by R-Sport news agency.
"I would like to ask you again, not only as a leader responsible for the development of athletics, but also as a former athlete, to protect clean Russian athletes and allow those who fully meet the criteria established by the International Olympic Committee," Mutko wrote, adding that Russia, in its turn, guarantees full transparency and adherence to the principles of the fight against doping abuses.
The IOC made a decision on Sunday not to ban the entire Russian Olympic team from the participation in the upcoming games in Rio, choosing to leave it to the individual sports federations to decide on athletes' participation. The IOC also banned all Russian athletes with doping record from the games.
