Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday the World Anti-Doping Agency’s (WADA) four-year ban for Russia from international sporting competition over doping was not justified.
He said bans should be handed out on an individual, not collective, basis. Speaking at an annual press conference, Putin said the decision was political and not fair.
“If the vast majority of our athletes are clean, why punish them? … This decision is contrary to the Olympic charter,” he said.
Reuters contributed reporting to this article.
“If the vast majority of our athletes are clean, why punish them? … This decision is contrary to the Olympic charter,” he said.
Article 9 of the Mission and Role of the Olympic movement states the following:
9. To protect clean athletes and the integrity of sport, by leading the fight against doping, and by taking action against all forms of manipulation of competitions and related corruption.
I hope that answers the question. In other words, state sponsored doping is not allowed by cheating countries like Muscovy.
Funny seeing Vladolf complaining about someone not following a charter…
Every time I hear about this , I remember seeing the East German women’s swim team photo from 1976 Olympics and thinking at the time that they looked like men.
Today the athletes say the terrible lifelong problems they suffered after being fed steroids by the communist state are a warning to any sportsman who is tempted to cheat
I remember the Bulgarian women shot putters, scary!