Putin says U.S. interfered in election
by Rachel Scully
Russian President Vladimir Putin accused the United States of interfering with the upcoming Russian presidential election on Thursday, Nov. 9 to counter the claims of Russian involvement in the 2016 American presidential election, according to BBC News.
The Russian president claimed the U.S. was interfering by creating false doping allegations toward Russia’s Olympic team.
Four Russian athletes were banned for life from competing in the Olympics on Nov. 9 due to evidence of doping in the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. The World Anti Doping Agency stated in 2015 that Russian athletes engaged in widespread doping before the games. WADA demanded the Russians to give them access to the Moscow laboratory. However, it remains inaccessible due to an alleged criminal investigation.
“Now that we have it, maybe the criminal investigation should reconsider their position,” said WADA Director-General Olivier Niggli. “They should work with us in terms of finding out what is in the lab…that would be the best solution.”
The International Olympic Committee is also debating whether to ban the Russian team as a whole in the 2018 Winter Olympics, according to USA Today.
After the ban of the Russian athletes, Putin took a stand. The Russian president accused the U.S. of inventing the dope allegations in order to “stir up problems” in order to influence the Russian presidential election. Putin denied all the claims of doping or cheating. “Never has there been, nor is there now,” he said. “And I hope there will never be a state system of doping support (in sports) which is an allegation that we are accussed of.”
Editor’s Note: Information from BBC News and USA Today was used in this report.
