ARD channel's film "provocation" - athletics federation chief
MOSCOW. Dec 5 (Sport-Express/Interfax) - Russia's Federation of Track and Field Athletics (VFLA) says Hajo Seppelt's film shown on the German ARD television channel is a provocation aimed at undermining the Russian sports.
"Even a cursory viewing of the film instantly raises justified doubts about the authenticity of the edited material. The film shows five people giving testimonies which can barely be trusted because each one of them was caught using doping and each one of them has their own reasons to feel personal dislike towards other athletes, coaches, the VFLA and RUSADA (Russian Anti-Doping Agency) staff," VFLA President Valentin Balakhnichev said, according to the Federation's spokesperson.
VFLA sees the screening of this film merely as a "crudely planned attempt to denigrate the Russian track and fields athletics and the entire Russian sport in general," the statement said.
"The Federation was and is waging a fierce and uncompromising fight against doping in sport, and intends to do so in the future. Presently, VFLA is studying all opportunities provided by the Russian and German legislation to defend its rights, including the possibility of individuals responsible for spreading slanderous information, being held to justice," Balakhnichev said.
The film contains a cell phone video footage showing the 800-meter run Olympic champion Mariya Savinova (after marriage: Farnosova) telling how she used doping. The film also cites the multiple marathon winner Liliya Shobukhova, disqualified for two years in 2013, who told about having given a 450,000 euro bribe to senior VFLA officials in order to be admitted to the 2012 Olympic Games in London. Later Shobukhova's agent confirmed this information. Furthermore, a former RUSADA staff, Vitaly Stepanov told how the organization had been hiding certain positive doping test results of Russian athletes.
