On Friday, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) decided against lifting the ban on Russian athletes ahead of 2016 Summer Olympics because of doping accusations of several Russian athletes.
"Of course we regret taking into consideration the decision in regards to our track and field athletes, and President [Vladimir] Putin, speaking at the St. Petersburg economic forum, has also expressed his regret. He said that from his point of view, a collective approach… is not fair and clean athletes, who have never used doping should not suffer from the fact that someone has been caught out for using prohibited drugs. Surely, this position will be maintained at different levels," Peskov told reporters.
In 2015, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) presented a report, accusing Russia of numerous breaches of global anti-doping regulations and recommended the country be banned from international athletics competitions, which then led to the ARAF suspension from the IAAF. In March, a number of prominent Russian athletes were tested positive for meldonium, medicine added to the list of banned substances on January 1, 2016 by WADA.
On Tuesday, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) is scheduled to hold an emergency summit in the Swiss city of Lausanne to discuss how Russia’s suspension over doping allegations will affect clean athletes.
