Vladimir Putin Linked To Russian Doping Scandal

Photo Courtesy: Jerry Lai-USA TODAY Sports

Russian President Vladimir Putin, the recipient of a FINA Order medal just last year, has reportedly been linked to the doping scandal currently going on in track and field.

The Associated Press is reporting that:

“Former leader of world athletics’ governing body (IAAF), Lamine Diack, reportedly told a lawyer he’d need to cut a deal with Russian president Vladimir Putin to ensure nine Russian athletes accused of doping wouldn’t compete at the 2013 world championships in Moscow.”

This admission appears in an 89-page report to be released today by the World Anti-Doping Agency after a Dick Pound-led investigation into Russian doping began last year.

Also according to the AP:

“The report comes a day after the AP released details from six years of IAAF internal emails, reports and notes showing a high level of communication between the athletics federation and Russian officials about suspicious test results from the nation’s athletes, including plans to cover up some doping evidence.”

The report also details a drastic increase in funding for Russian television rights to broadcast the 2013 World Championships for track and field. Initially set at $US6 million, a Russian bank upped the ante to $US25 million to televise the 2013 event.

While this is not directly a report on swimming, the report shows the level of corruption found within Russia to cover up what is quickly looking like systematic doping within its sporting community. It doesn’t take much of a logical step to translate the Putin-IAAF relationship to the one Putin has with FINA following the awarding of FINA’s highest honor to the man just a year ago.

Pound, the author of the to-be-released report from WADA, blasted the level of corruption within the IAAF it took for this level of cover up to be considered.

The corruption “cannot be blamed on a small number of miscreants,” Pound wrote. “The corruption was embedded in the organisation. It cannot be ignored or dismissed as attributable to the odd renegade acting on his own.”

The aquatics community is still waiting to see if this investigation bleeds over into other sports such as swimming, where Russia has had an unhealthy amount of positive doping tests in the past few years.

Full Associated Press article.

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Brian Mullies

8 years ago

Not surprised.

dale

8 years ago

Reply to Brian Mullies

,” Lamine Diack, reportedly told a lawyer he’d need to cut a deal with Russian president Vladimir Putin to ensure nine Russian athletes accused of doping wouldn’t compete at the 2013 world championships in Moscow.”

An official told someone he’d need to cut a deal with Putin to keep Russian athletes out of the competition.
This is confirmation of Putin being linked to doping? It hardly is evidence. It is an alleged statement to an unnamed person that suggests he thought Putin would be willing to ban Russian atheletes from competing. This is not journalism; this is propaganda.

The article in no way confirms the inflammatory headline:
Vladimir Putin Linked To Russian Doping Scandal.

Shame, and people accept this kind of yellow journalism as truth?

Katie McNerney

8 years ago

Shocking….

Staci Hollingsworth Roberson

8 years ago

Not surprised but very sad.

Sara Harbison Mackay

8 years ago

Awful. Hope the great sport of swimming never gets so abused/polluted/corrupted. Seem to have dodged that bullet so far.

Thomas Auriemma

8 years ago

He had to know

Kara Lennon

8 years ago

Bob Muscillo once again he is behind the Russian problems

Bob Muscillo

8 years ago

Reply to Kara Lennon

Not surprised since its Russia.

Jack P.

8 years ago

So, where’s the link? Someone told a lawyer that he’d have to cut a deal with Putin, and that’s a link? In a blog recently I ran across someone wanting to cut a deal with Putin because he was directly blamed for some sort of illness as well as misfortune she/he was suffering in the states. I mean, this is journalism?

Max Mazurov

8 years ago

Reply to Jack P.

Exactly and the deal was to “ensure nine Russian athletes accused of doping wouldn’t compete” – how is this linking Putin to doping? Or am I reading this wrong?

Ken Henry

8 years ago

What do you expect, he a criminal ! And anyone shoot down a ??!

8 years ago

As if the Associated Press has any credibility whatsoever. What a joke.

Louis-Alexandre Anastasiou

8 years ago

Anthony Gélinas

Hugo

8 years ago

Micheal Phelps is on PEDs for sure. We are as corupt as anyone….Russia never dominated swimming but we dominate it and keep breaking
Unhuman records….

swetank

8 years ago

Not surprised either. But on timing on the article, esp when US doing all it can to defame there target.