MOSCOW (Sputnik) — There are no reasons for Russian athletes to be barred from the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said Tuesday.
"I do not hear any threats today, though they are being voiced. Even the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has said that if the investigation regarding Sochi [Olympic Games 2014] gives the results, something like this may happen. By now I do not see any reasons [to ban Russian athletes from the Olympic Games]," Mutko told journalists.
On May 19, the IOC said its Executive Board had requested the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to retest doping samples of athletes who had taken part in the Beijing, London and Sochi Olympic Games.
The Russian authorities have promised to conduct a clean-up program to comply with the WADA requirements so that the country's athletes could be allowed to take part in the 2016 Olympics hosted by Rio de Janeiro in August 2016.
