Vladimir Putin has described the ban on Russia from competing in the Paralympics as cynical and immoral but the Russian president has admitted mistakes have been made on how they tackle doping.
The Russian track and field team were excluded from the Olympic Games after world anti-doping authorities alleged Moscow ran a state-sponsored sports doping programme. The entire Russian Paralympic team have been barred over the same allegations.
At a Kremlin ceremony to welcome home Russian athletes who had competed in the Rio Olympic Games, Putin said international anti-doping organisations had singled out Russia for harsh treatment because they were subject to political pressure.
Russia finished fourth in the medals table in Rio, winning 19 golds from a total of 56 medals. Putin said the result could have been better if a third of Russian competitors had not been excluded.
“I used to say this before … and I still believe that these international anti-doping structures … should be rid of political pressure,” Putin said.
He also said the decision to bar Russian athletes, including those who had not tested positive for banned substances, was a vivid manifestation “of how the humanistic foundations of sport and Olympism are shamelessly flouted by politics”.
The court of arbitration for sport said on Tuesday that Russia had lost its appeal against a ban from the Paralympics which start in Rio on 7 September.
“The decision to disqualify our Paralympic team is outside the law, outside morality and outside humanity,” Putin said. “It is simply cynical to vent one’s anger on those for whom sport has become the meaning of their life … I even feel pity for those taking such decisions because they must well understand it is so demeaning for them.“
Putin said Russia acknowledged its mistakes and was striving to improve its anti-doping structures “in the most transparent way”.
“But … we don’t accept and we can’t accept any accusations against our athletes if they are not proven by evidence and facts …and we will view this as manipulation.”