Ex-WADA chief warns Russia may not feature in Rio Olympics

Former World Anti-Doping Agency chief Dick Pound has stated that Russia is unlikely to play in the forthcoming Rio Olympics Games amidst a high number of doping cases among the country's athletes.

Russian athletes were suspended for an indefinite period last year after the WADA alleged state-sponsored doping in the sporting superpower, which involves destroying samples and intimidating laboratory staff.

Speaking at the Tackling Doping in Sport conference in London, Pound observed that the Russians seemed to assume that the controversy would disappear eventually and that there should be no question of their participation in Rio.

The Canadian, whose investigation revealed rampant corruption and doping cover-up among Russian athletes, said that the country's embattled athletics body faces a mountainous task to return in time for this year's Games.

However, Pound said that Russia were not doing enough to come out of the crisis and was 'rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic', Sport24 reported.

Earlier, Russian tennis star Maria Sharapova has been provisionally suspended by the International Tennis Federation after revealing that she had tested positive for the banned substance meldonium at this year's Australian Open.