Russian PM Demands Tougher Anti-Doping Measures

Russia is particularly anxious to protect its sporting reputation because it will host the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin told sports officials on Tuesday to step up anti-doping controls and toughen sanctions after three leading Russian biathletes failed drug tests.

Russia is particularly anxious to protect its sporting reputation because it will host the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, the first Olympics on its soil since the 1980 Moscow Games and a prestige project for the Kremlin.

"We need to create all conditions to create a mechanism of state (anti-doping) control and act energetically," Putin told a meeting with top national sports officials.

"If needed, let's discuss questions concerning toughening responsibility for this."

The International Biathlon Union (IBU) this month initiated disciplinary measures against Dmitri Yaroshenko, Ekaterina Iourieva and Albina Akhatova after they failed drug tests.

Akhatova is an Olympic champion and three-times world champion, Yaroshenko is a two-times world champion while Iourieva is a world champion.

Last year, Russian biathlete Tatyana Moiseyeva failed a drugs test at the world championships in Sweden but charges against her were dropped after the IBU accepted explanations from the former world junior champion and her doctor.

In another case, 2002 Olympic champion Olga Pyleva was stripped of her silver medal and banned for two years after testing positive for the stimulant carphedon at the Turin Games three years ago.

SHARED BLAME

Putin, who held up sporting victories as a symbol of Russia's resurgence as a world power during his eight years as president, made clear national sports officials shared the blame for doping scandals.

"We have no right and will not load all the burden on sportsmen alone," said Putin, who became prime minister after leaving the presidency last year. "Sports managers should understand their own responsibility."

Russia plans to invest $12 billion into the ambitious project to turn its Black Sea resort of Sochi into a world-class venue for the 2014 Olympics.

The Kremlin has pledged to carry on preparations for the Olympic games despite a global economic crisis which has forced the budget into deficit for the first time in a decade. It has though asked officials to cut spending on Olympic venues.

Putin on Tuesday defended the expensive project, saying the investments would leave a lasting legacy for the region after the Games are over.

"Even now figures clearly show that more than 80 percent of the investment will go on developing the south of the country, the town of Sochi, including highways, railways, improving the ecological situation, energy supply and communications," Putin said.