MOSCOW // Russia on Wednesday blasted a report in The New York Times which said officials had acknowledged a massive sports doping conspiracy, reiterating claims there was no government involvement.
The report, published on Tuesday, said the acting director general of Russia's ational anti-doping agency had "for the first time" conceded that officials conducted the programme to cheat.
"It was an institutional conspiracy," Anna Antseliovich was reported as telling the US newspaper in an article datelined from Moscow.
Ms Antseliovich and others interviewed continued to reject the characterisation of the doping scheme as "state-sponsored", telling the Times that top government officials were not involved.
But Moscow later slammed the article, with anti-doping agency Rusada insisting that Ms Antseliovich's words were "distorted and taken out of context".
The Times reporter "took these words out of context, creating the impression that Rusada's leadership had admitted to an institutional system of a doping cover-up in Russia", the agency said.
"We want to underline that Rusada does not and cannot have the authority to admit or deny such facts," it said.
Investigator Richard McLaren said in a new report for the World Anti-Doping Agency this month that more than 1,000 Russian athletes in some 30 sports took part in a plan for Moscow sports ministry officials to use banned drugs at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics, the 2012 London Summer Games and other global events.
Russia has admitted it had a problem with doping but insists there is no proof there of a state-orchestrated doping programme, a dogged denial that critics say means Moscow will never tackle the issue.
On Wednesday the Kremlin repeated earlier rejections of allegations of state involvement in doping, while also casting doubt on the Times report.
"From the very beginning we have denied any involvement by the state or state institutions or services or agencies in the possible use of doping by sportsmen," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.
* Agence France-Presse
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