Russia rejected Tuesday explosive accusations of doping and corruption and promised a rapid response to avoid suspension from the 2016 Olympics due to the scandal that threatens to spread far beyond the borders of Russia and athletics. "Until any proof has been put forward it is hard to accept any accusations as they seem rather groundless," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov stated. Meanwhile, the Moscow anti-doping laboratory was stripped of its accreditation by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in the first concrete measure taken since the publishing of a damning report by a WADA independent commission. Athletics was rocked by allegations of Russian "state-sponsored" doping contained in the report published Monday. IAAF President Sebastian Coe has given the Russian athletics federation (ARAF) "until the end of the week" to respond or risk possible suspension. Despite the Kremlin's dismissive reaction, ARAF assured Coe that it would contact the IAAF "in the very near future" outlining its anti-doping program and "its reaction to the deductions and conclusions" in WADA's report. Calls for Russia, fourth in the 2012 London Olympics medals table, to be banned from next year's Olympic Games are growing. UK Athletics chief Ed Warner told BBC Radio 4: "Lord Coe ... says that his (IAAF) council is meeting on Friday or Saturday to consider sanctioning Russia and possibly to suspend them. My strong advice would be: you've absolutely got to do that." That view was echoed by Australia's national Olympic Committee. Worryingly according to WADA, the athletics scandal is by no means confined to Russia or athletics. "Russia is not the only country, nor athletics the only sport, facing the problem of orchestrated doping in sport," the report, triggered by German broadcaster ARD's documentary last December, warned. WADA's independent commission chairman Pound added: "We certainly do not think that Russia is the only country with a doping problem and we don't think athletics is the only sport with a doping problem. "It seems pretty clear from both the ARD program and subsequent developments that Kenya has a real problem. It's been very slow to acknowledge that there is a problem. If they don't do a good job (investigating doping) then I think somebody else will do a job for them." ARD's documentary claimed that a third of the 146 world and Olympic medals awarded between 2001 and the 2012 London Olympics, featuring 18 Kenyans, were tainted by suspicions of doping. And of 5,000 athletes of various nationalities tested during this period, 800 returned suspect samples, according to ARD. Russian former athlete and doping whistleblower Yulia Stepanova told ARD in comments included in WADA's report: "There were swimmers, coaches and athletes from other sports, long distance skiers ..." Among the other recommendations, the WADA report called for five Russian athletes — including 800m Olympic winner Mariya Savinova — to be given lifetime bans, suggesting the presence of doped athletes had "sabotaged" the 2012 Games in London. Moscow's sports minister defended his country, saying it had done everything that was asked by international organizations. — Agencies
