The Sports Minister of Russia has penned an article on Sunday as he apologized in behalf of the athletes from their country who are involved in a doping scandal. He also pleaded for the Russian athletes to be allowed to compete in the upcoming Olympics.
The minister, Vitaly Mutko, said in his article, which was published in the Britain publication The Sunday Times, that the athletes have broken anti-doping rules and that it was a serious mistake. He also said that they are ashamed of them. The people involved in the scandal are the federation management, athletes, and coaches, Time reported.
Mutko pointed out that they are sorry that the athletes who tried to deceive them and the world were not caught sooner and that Russia is committed to "upholding the highest standards in sport and is opposed to anything that threatens the Olympic values," USA Today reported.
The track and field athletes of Russia were suspended from the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) since November last year. This came after several Russian athletes were found out to be using performance enhanced substances that were banned. The IAAF is yet to determine whether or not the track and field athletes will be able to join the Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games, Business Insider reported. It is said that the IAAF will decide on the matter by June 17.
Mutko also said in his penned article that they are restructuring Russia's anti-doping agency and that the organization is taking a series of steps to demonstrate how committed they are to ensuring that the sport in their country is clean and fair. Athletes wanting to join the Olympics will be undergoing a minimum of three anti-doping tests carried out by the IAAF.
Reports in the past claim that the doping scandal was sponsored by the government of Russia. It was reported that during the 2014 Sochi Olympics, athletes were involved in a switching of urine samples in order to ensure that the athletes would have clean tests. Mutko did not touch on the topic in his article.
