Russia Olympics ban: President Vladimir Putin says Wada decision is politically instigated

Russia President Vladimir Putin has come out to defend
Russia Anti-Doping Agency saying that the decision to have the country banned
from Olympics by the World Anti-Doping Agency is politically instigated.

According to Reuters President Putin said Russia will
analyze Wada’s decision which ‘is smacked of politics and was not in the
interest of sport’.

“I think one has every right to say that these decisions are
not based carefully on international sports but on interests that have nothing
in common with sports and international Olympics movement,” said President
Putin.

The agency banned Russia National Olympics team from
participating in world major events for four seasons, but excluding clean
athletes who can participate without the country’s flag.

WADA’s Executive Committee voted in Lausanne, Switzerland,
on Monday and concluded that officials in a Moscow anti-doping laboratory had
tampered with data.

The tampering included planting fake evidence and deleting
files linked to positive doping tests that could have helped identify drug
cheats.

The committee also found that system messages were
fabricated in an effort to hamper the work of WADA investigators.