“I don’t accept nods to the West”: Degtyarev on “criminal” doping rhetoric

TAMBOV, July 11, Sergei Fuks. Russia strongly condemns the use prohibited drugs, and the rhetoric about the widespread use of doping is absolutely unacceptable, said Russian Sports Minister Mikhail Degtyarev.
A plenary session is taking place in Tambov within the framework of the All-Russian forum «Sport. Anti-doping. Health. Practice of interdepartmental cooperation.»
«»The main task of the state is to preserve people's health, and physical education and sports are the most important aspect here. The use of doping is one of the main challenges in sports. And Russia has always fought resolutely against it. As President Putin said, we oppose the politicization of sports, we resolutely We condemn the use of prohibited drugs. And this quote says it all,” Degtyarev said.
In December 2019, following a series of doping scandals involving Russian sport, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) found the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) to be non-compliant with the anti-doping code and imposed four-year sanctions on Russian sport. On December 17, 2020, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) reduced WADA's sanctions, reducing them to two years. RUSADA was not automatically reinstated after December 17, 2022. WADA stated that RUSADA was non-compliant with the organization's code, including because the World Anti-Doping Code was not fully integrated into Russian laws.

«Doping has a detrimental effect on the health of thousands of young people who are just starting out on their journey,» the sports minister continued. «I am sure that we need to use preventive measures. It is obvious that the problem can be finally solved by methodically creating zero tolerance for doping in society. The rhetoric that they, in Europe and America, all use doping, and what about us, is absolutely unacceptable. This is criminal and incorrect rhetoric, we need to think about ourselves, about our children, athletes, and not about those.»
«Cleanliness and honesty in sports should be an axiom for all of us. I do not accept any nods to the West. We need to deal with our own issues,» Degtyarev emphasized.