Russia has fulfilled all its anti-doping requirements, President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday, attesting that there should be no problems at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
“Russia has fulfilled all requirements in terms of improving the fight against doping and established constructive cooperation with specialised international structures,’’
Putin told a meeting of sports officials in Moscow.
Russia has struggled in recent years with allegations of widespread use of performance-enhancing drugs in the country and at the 2014 Winter Olympics on home ground in Sochi.
Russian athletes were only allowed to compete as neutrals at the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang.
The country was reinstated in September after three years by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) which has by now also gained access to data of its Moscow Anti-Doping lab.
However, Russia still risks being declared non-compliant again if it doesn’t produce retests of suspicious samples from the Moscow lab by June 30.
Russia remains suspended by the ruling athletics body IAAF, which has reiterated that it would only reinstate Russia once all WADA criteria have been met.
Russian athletes can only compete as neutrals in the sport at international events.