By Samindra Kunti in St Petersburg
July 3 – Gianni Infantino praised Russia for its staging of the Confederations Cup, but doping allegations cast a shadow over the tournament’s end. The FIFA president vowed that Russia will face disciplinary proceedings if the doping allegations surrounding their team at the 2014 World Cup are proven.
At Saturday’s press conference Infantino, Vitaly Mutko and Alexey Sorokin appeared best of friends as they complimented hosts Russia for its organisation of the Confederations Cup, which culminated with Germany defeating Chile 1-0 in the final.
“Everything ran perfectly,” said Infantino. “We were hearing about violence, about incidents, about hooligans, about racism – but we had nothing.”
“For Russia this tournament is unprecedented, in scale and duration, in many ways it dispelled many concerns about the organisation of large scale competitions in Russia,” said CEO of the 2018 LOC Alexey Sorokin. “At the same time it set new standards, not just on the field of play, but also outside the stadiums. We offered new services at a very high quality – free travel inside and between the cities, free Wi-Fi at all stadia, 45,000 fans used it. All families that came to the stadium could get special bracelets, which means that children could never get lost. This was a novelty. Disabled fans could rent wheelchairs.”
But doping allegations against the Russian national team, which first surfaced in a report in the Mail on Sunday, have blanketed the final stages of the Confederations Cup. All members of Russia 23-man squad at the Brazil World Cup have been implicated in doping offenses.
“The tests are done outside Russia in WADA-accredited laboratories,” said Infantino. “What will be done afterwards will be disciplinary procedures if the tests turn out to be positive. I can assure you that this isn’t FIFA or Russia conducting the tests.”
Infantino also took a dig at Reinhard Grindel, the DFB president and FIFA ExCo member, who suggested that all doping tests should be carried out by WADA. “Mr. Grindel has an idea every day,” commented Infantino. “That is fantastic. Mr. Grindel should know and everyone should know that the tests which are done during or out of FIFA competitions or UEFA competitions, they are done by the WADA-accredited lab in Lausanne.”
Deputy Prime Minister and head of the Russian Football Union Mutko vented his anger with the media reports in a lengthy rant as he seemed to get more and more wound up. “If I perform a Russian dance here in front of you, will you stop asking these questions or not?” said Mutko through a translator.
“Russia has reacted [to the McClaren report],” said Mutko. “We have an anti-doping system, accredited by WADA. The World Cup and the Olympics are not organized by Russia, but by FIFA and the IOC and we have to work with them. In Sochi there were 22 experts, several years later people start talking about bottles being substituted and so on. The WADA-accredited system didn’t work well, we have analysed all conclusions by WADA and we have appointed new people in track and field, rowing and weightlifting.”
“We will never let down this respectable and powerful organisation,” said Mutko.
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