Russia will not boycott next year’s Olympics even if the country’s track and field athletes are banned from competing, Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko said on Thursday.
The IAAF (International Association of Athletics Federations) will rule on Friday on whether to ban Russia from international competitions over the doping scandal revealed by an explosive World Anti-doping Agency (WADA) commission report published on Monday.
In quotes published by British newspaper The Guardian, Mutko said that even if Russia’s athletes are suspended, “we don’t plan to boycott anything, anywhere”.
He also described Russia as “a dependable partner of the international Olympic movement”.
Former WADA president Dick Pound, whose report uncovered evidence of state-supported doping in Russia, called for the country to be suspended from competition, including next year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, unless it overhauls its approach.
On Wednesday, Russian president Vladimir Putin ordered an inquiry into WADA’s allegations, but said that only individual guilty athletes should face sanctions.