MOSCOW (AP) — Russia Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said the state will never acknowledge the accusation of state-sponsored doping that led to the Russia Olympic Committee’s ban from the Pyeongchang Olympics because it considers it false.
Medvedev, speaking at the Cabinet session on Thursday, said, “We can’t and will not acknowledge false conclusions.”
He also argued that the International Olympic Committee decision on Tuesday to ban the Russia team from the Winter Games in South Korea for anti-doping violations at the Sochi Olympics had political underlining.
Medvedev said the move was taken in order to influence public opinion in Russia ahead of the March 18 presidential election.