Accusations against Russian athletes based on the report by WADA’s Independent Commission, chaired by Canadian sports law professor, Richard McLaren, are sometimes groundless, Russian Sports Minister, Vitaly Mutko told reporters on Friday.
“Many details have not been taken into consideration regarding the banning of Russian athletes from the Olympics based on McLaren’s list. We see that the list is not faultless and at times unsubstantiated. This is the case in rowing and some other sports. I am grateful to the majority of our sports federations that meticulously defended our athletes’ rights,” he said.
“Over the past years, a colossal job has been done in Russia to create an anti-doping system, we have built a lab, enacted laws,” the sports minister continued. “A total of 15,000 athletes have been tested yearly, about 200 have been disqualified for violations,” the minister said.