New Russian anti-doping body to include IOC, WADA, sports, media reps

The new Russian anti-doping commission will include members of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), as well as senior representatives of international sports federations and media, the newly-named head of the commission Vitaly Smirnov has said.

The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) on Monday appointed Smirnov, honorary president of the ROC and member of the IOC since 1971, to chair the anti-doping commission, following a recommendation by Russian President Vladimir Putin, reports Xinhua.

Smirnov was quoted as saying by Russian media after his appointment that the commission planned to closely collaborate with the IOC, its disciplinary commission, WADA, and all parties interested in fighting doping in sports.

"We will soon take off to attend the executive board meeting at the session of the Olympic Committee and I will meet with (IOC President) Thomas Bach. We are open for cooperation," the Interfax news agency quoted Smirnov as saying.

He added that he expected to be able to announce the composition of the new body in the nearest future but gave no exact date.

The new commission was set up after the IOC decided not to ban the whole of the Russian team from participating in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, leaving the fate of individual athletes not found of doping in the hands of respective international sports federations.

In a separate development, the Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov denied Putin's personal interference in tackling the issues related to participation of Russian athletes in the 2016 Olympics.

--IANS

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