Russia facing allegations of widespread doping and corruption in sport
Russia faces serious allegations of corruption and widespread doping, including the apparent admission of drug use by a current Olympic Champion runner and a cover up and extortion involving three-time winner of the Chigago marathon, according to the Associated Press.
The AP report that German TV channel ARD and French sports daily newspaper L'Equippe have said that Liliya Shobukhova - winner of the Chicago Marathon from 2009-11 and the London race in 2010- paid the Russian athletics governing body 450,000 euros (£350,000) to cover up a positive doping case.
Shobukhova said she and her husband paid 450,000 euros to Russian federation officials after being threatened that she "could have problems" with doping and miss the 2012 London Olympics. She did run in the Olympic marathon, but failed to finish.
When Shobukhova was banned this year, her husband received a 300,000 euro (£250,000) refund, ARD reported, adding it had linked the transfer to federation president Valentin Balakhnichev, who is also the IAAF treasurer.
ARD also appeared to show reigning Olympic 800-meter champion Maria Savinova admitting to using the banned steroid oxandrolone in an undercover video that has the woman's face out of focus.
AP reports that the video was dubbed into German with the original audio track absent, but ARD said it possessed an unedited version.
The ARD report also linked doping to Russian officials and athletes in other sports, including swimming, cycling, biathlon, weightlifting and cross-country skiing.
The Russian athletics federation and national anti-doping agency declined to comment.
A statement on world anti-doping body's WADA's website read:
The Russian athletics federation and national anti-doping agency declined to comment.
The reports also include accusations from former Russian Anti-Doping Agency official Vitaly Stepanov and his wife Yulia, who previously competed as an 800-metre runner under the name Yulia Rusanova and was banned for doping.
Stepanov told ARD that various Russian sports federations "would come to (Russian) doping control officers" offering "extra cash" to hush up positive tests. He also accused the head of the national doping test laboratory, Grigory Rodchenkov, of falsifying tests and selling banned substances.
"These are serious allegations. I understand an investigation is already under way by the IAAF ethics commission and we await the full findings," IOC spokesman Mark Adams told The Associated Press. "Should there be anything affecting the International Olympic Committee and our code of ethics we will not hesitate take any and all action necessary."
Yulia Stepanova also accused the head of the Russian federation's medical department, Sergei Portugalov, of supplying doping products in exchange for 5 percent of an athlete's earnings, plus bonuses for competition wins. She also said Russian athletes had avoided out-of-competition testing by using false names during foreign training camps.
The main organisations involved — the Russian athletics federation, the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) and the national doping test laboratory — are all funded and overseen by the Russian government.
The Russian city of Sochi hosted the Winter Olympics earlier this year while Russia will stage the World Cup for the first time in 2018.
"Somebody's got to come up with an answer," former WADA president Dick Pound said. "If something of this nature is being organized in any country, it's a very serious problem for the credibility of international sport and the credibility of anti-doping efforts."
Shobukhova's time of 2 hours, 18 minutes, 20 seconds in Chicago in 2011 made her the second-fastest women's marathon runner behind record holder Paula Radcliffe of Britain. But in April, she was banned for two years for suspicious blood values in samples given for her biological passport. She was then stripped of her Chicago wins and ordered to repay her prize money.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport said Wednesday that the IAAF had appealed the 2-year ban, which expires next month, seeking a 4-year sanction.