Russian Officials Admit To Existence Of Doping Programme

Russian officials have for the first time admitted the existence of a doping operation which affected major competitions, the New York Times says.
Acting Director General of Russia’s anti-doping agency, Anna Antseliovich, says it was an “institutional conspiracy”, although she denied it was a state-sponsored programme.
Dmitry Peskov, a Kremlin spokesman, said they “need to check the authenticity” of Antseliovich’s words, adding that Russia has always denied allegations that the state is involved in doping.
Vitaly Smirnov, the 81-year-old who has been a leading sports official since the Soviet era and who has been appointed by Russian President, Vladimir Putin to reform the anti-doping system, told the New York Times: “I don’t want to speak for the people responsible.
“From my point of view, as a former Minister of Sport, President of Olympic Committee – we made a lot of mistakes.”
Smirnov also suggested the leaks made by the Fancy Bears; a group of hackers who have released the medical records of several athletes from around the world, showed Russia had not been competing on a level playing field