New Zealand has joined international calls to ban Russia from the 2018 Winter Olympics, following criticism from the world's leading anti-doping agencies over the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) "inaction" over the Russian doping scandal.
The seventeen National Anti-Doping Organisation (NADA) leaders said Russian athletes should be banned from the Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea "for proven corruption of the Sochi Olympic Games and continuing failure in its obligations to clean sport."
- 30 percent of world athletes admit to doping
- WADA report reveals Russian doping
- Paris and Los Angeles confirmed for 2024, 2028 Olympic Games
The statement was signed by leaders of anti-doping agencies in the United States., Britain, Australia and more than a dozen other countries including Drug Free Sport NZ.
In a strongly-worded statement following a two-day meeting in Denver, Colorado, the NADA leaders accused the IOC of a "continuing refusal to hold Russia accountable for one of the biggest doping scandals in sports history."
"IOC inaction imperils clean athletes and the future of the Olympic movement," it said.
DPA/Newshub.
