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Russian officials accuse new doping allegations as unconvincing

Xinhua, June 9, 2016 Adjust font size:

The latest documentary by the German ARD TV channel accusing Russian athletes and officials of being involved in a doping scandal are not convincing, Russian officials said Thursday.

"There is nothing new, the data are rather unconvincing, they are not backed by any substantial evidence," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said during a briefing.

"We still consider this unproven slander," Peskov added.

The ARD broadcasted on Wednesday another documentary accusing among other things Russian Sports Minister Vitali Mutko of blocking the reporting of a doping offense by a top Russian football player.

Also, Mutko's advisor Natalya Zhelanova had hidden positive doping tests of Russian athletes and bribed foreign officials, said the documentary quoting former head of the Russian anti-doping laboratory Grigory Rodchenkov.

"This is a deliberate attack on Russia, calm and organized. Rodchenkov is paying back debts to people who had once sheltered him," Mutko was shown as saying by the Russia 24 TV Channel.

Suggesting that Rodchenko might advance new accusations, Mutko said that the doping scandal also targeted to undermine the 2018 FIFA World cup scheduled to take place in Russia.

Mutko's adviser Zhelanova denied the accusations and was thinking of launching a lawsuit against Rodchenkov, RIA Novosti news agency reported.

The Russian Sports Ministry issued on Thursday a statement stressing that Rodchenkov, the author of the accusations, could not be considered a reliable source as he had "carried out illegal activities violating the spirit of fair sport for many years."

The ministry urged that any evidence of doping offense should be sent to relevant authorities for proper investigation.

The documentary shown on Wednesday was the latest in the series by the ARD channel, with the first one released in December 2014, which alleged that Russian athletes and sports officials were involved in wide use of banned drugs to secure victories at various sports competitions. Endit