Football
Associated Press 9y

FIFA: No indications football is involved in Russian sports 'doping' scandal

FIFA says there are "no indications" that football is implicated in alleged widespread doping and corruption in Russian sports.

World football's governing body says it "monitors carefully the reports concerning doping in Russia and is in close contact" with the World Anti-Doping Agency.

German broadcaster ARD and French sports daily L'Equipe reported on Wednesday that there was systematic doping in athletics, linked to the WADA-accredited laboratory in Moscow and Russian Anti-Doping Agency.

An IAAF ethics panel is investigating the claims. FIFA intends to use the Moscow lab to test samples from players at the 2018 World Cup and the 2017 Confederations Cup warm-up tournament.

Russian national team players were tested by FIFA before and during this year's World Cup in Brazil. No positive tests were given.

In the 2009-10 season, three Russian players from current champions CSKA Moscow were suspended by UEFA for doping violations.

Sergei Ignashevich -- who played in all three of Russia's games in Brazil -- and Alexei Berezutsky served one-match bans for using stimulants in a cold remedy without permission. They tested positive after a Champions League match at Manchester United.

Two months later, youth international goalkeeper Artur Nigmatullin tested positive for a banned diuretic at a training camp in Spain. UEFA banned him for one year.

UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino said football does not have a doping problem when asked on Thursday about the Russian scandal, stating: "When somebody tries to cheat, maybe it works in other sports [but] it will not work with us."

UEFA tests players from clubs and national teams involved in its competitions. Neither FIFA nor UEFA has responsibility for testing players at Russian league clubs.

Russia's successful bid for the 2018 World Cup has come under scrutiny in recent weeks -- Russia, Qatar and England have all been accused of breaking FIFA rules during the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups in a document published by the British Parliament.

A dossier compiled by the Sunday Times and published by the Culture, Media and Sport select committee accuses Russia and Qatar of engaging in vote-trading and vote-buying, while England's 2018 bid team are alleged to have engineered a failed vote-swap with their counterparts in the South Korea 2022 bid.

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