Mutko compares Russian national team's possible 2016 Olympics ban with Olympics boycotts of 1980 and 1984
MOSCOW. May 24 (Interfax) - A possible ban for Russia's national team from competing at the Summer Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro will be a return to the past, Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko has said.
"In this case, it will be a return to the times of boycotts. The entire sports philosophy should still be directed at punishing the people who commit violations. I can say firmly that the state has never supported and does not support people who use doping," Mutko told reporters on Tuesday, after being asked whether he admits that the entire Russian national team could be banned from the Olympic Games in Brazil.
Last week, the Russian government approved a bill supporting Russian parliamentarians' initiative to introduce criminal liability for those who use doping or persuade others to use doping, he said.
The experience of foreign countries, including Germany, was taken into account when drafting this document, the minister said.
"I think that this bill will be adopted in the near future," Mutko added.
The United States and its allies boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympic Games in Moscow, citing Soviet forces' deployment to Afghanistan. In response, the Soviet Union and a number of socialist countries refused to send their athletes to the Summer Olympic Games in Los Angeles in 1984.