12 January 2025 GMT: 00:22

Football confident it is unaffected by Russian sport’s doping culture

doping control

December 8 – FIFA says it has “no indications” that football is implicated in the alleged systematic doping culture in Russian sport.

Last week a stunning documentary on German television revealed that as many as 99% of Russian athletes were guilty of doping and that Russian officials routinely accepted payment to supply banned substances and cover up tests.

The story made worldwide headlines and with Russia hosting the 2018 World Cup, FIFA was quick to react saying it was “monitoring carefully the reports concerning doping in Russia and is in close contact” with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

FIFA intends to use the accredited Moscow laboratory to test samples from players at the World Cup and the Confederations Cup warm-up tournament the year before.

“Up to now, there are no indications” that football is involved in the latest scandal, FIFA said, making the point that it will take charge of anti-doping procedures at both tournaments, and not the Russian authorities.

There were worrying signs back in the 2009-10 season, however, when three Russian players from current champion CSKA Moscow were suspended by UEFA for doping violations. Defenders Sergei Ignashevich – who played in all three Russia games at the World Cup in Brazil – and Alexei Berezutsky served one-match bans for using stimulants in a cold remedy without permission. They tested positive after a Champions League match at Manchester United.

Two months later, youth international goalkeeper Artur Nigmatullin tested positive for a banned diuretic at a training camp in Spain. UEFA banned him for one year.

But UEFA general secretary Gianni Infantino insisted that European football is pretty much doping-free, barring occasional instances.

“When somebody tries to cheat, maybe it works in other sports (but) it will not work with us,” Infantino said when asked about the Russian scandal.

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