Claims of state support for doping false, IOC report shows - Zhukov
MOSCOW. Dec 8 (Interfax) - The Disciplinary Commission of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) did not find any proof of an alleged state-sponsored doping system in Russia, Alexander Zhukov, Russian State Duma first deputy chairman and head of the Russian Olympic Committee, said.
"What are the main conclusions of the IOC Disciplinary Commission? I will quote some of them, because this is highly important: the Disciplinary Commission did not reveal any documented independent and impartial proof confirming that the supreme government bodies of Russia supported this [doping] system or were aware of its existence," Zhukov said on Friday at a State Duma session debating a draft statement in response to the IOC decision to bar Russia's Olympic team from the Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang.
"This is the most important conclusion, because our political opponents and those who sought a blanket ban on the Russian team competing in the Olympics and Russia's removal from the Olympic movement claimed that Russia had a state-backed doping system," he said.
"So these allegations have been put to rest. And the [IOC] commission said that no state support for doping existed in Russia. This is the most important conclusion," Zhukov said.
The IOC commission believes that "the Russian anti-doping laboratory systemically tampered with anti-doping substances and was involved in machinations with anti-doing procedures," he said.
Zhukov said he was quoting the IOC commission's decision, according to which "laboratory director [Grigory] Rodchenkov devised methods to cheat doping tests, and he and his colleagues financially benefited from it, encouraging athletes to buy banned substances and, in case of positive doping tests, receive money to hide them."
"In other words, the commission believes, our anti-doping laboratory had a group of people led by the laboratory's director who brought banned substances to Russia, gave them to athletes and, when there were positive doping tests, substituted and concealed the results of these tests," Zhukov said.