Russian sporting officials finally admit to ‘systemic doping scheme’
Paris — Senior Russian sports officials have admitted to "some unacceptable manipulations of the anti-doping system" and the existence of a "systemic doping scheme" in a letter to international sports leaders. After the letter arrived, Craig Reedie, president of the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada), told a press conference: "My first look at it, is that they are getting closer to acknowledging that there was an error. I hope it is a game-changer." AFP has seen a copy of the letter, which was written in Russian, addressed to Reedie and copied to International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Thomas Bach, and president of the International Paralympic Committee, Andrew Parsons. It was signed by Russian minister of sport Pavel Kolobkov, Russian Olympic Committee president Aleksandr Zhukov, and Russian Paralympic Committee president Vladimir Lukin. The letter describes the doping as "systemic" but does not use the word "institutional", a key conclusion of the Wada inquiry led by Richard ...
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