Vladimir Putin (Xinhua file pic)
MOSCOW, July 22 (Xinhua) -- Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday suggested that Russia should create a new anti-doping body to prevent abuse of prohibited substances in sports.
"I consider it appropriate to propose to the Russian Olympic Committee to set up an independent, I want to emphasize, really independent, and public commission," Putin said at a meeting with government members.
The new commission should include, besides Russian specialists, foreign experts in the field of medicine and law, as well as prestigious public and sports figures, Putin said as quoted by a Kremlin transcript.
He said its key task should be rapid development of a national plan for the fight against doping and strict control over its implementation.
Putin repeated the firm position of the Russian government and himself against doping in sports.
"...There is no place for any kind of doping in sports. Sports should be clean and the health of athletes should be well protected," he said.
Putin also stressed the importance of close cooperation of Russian sports bodies on anti-doping issues with the Disciplinary Commission of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), and international sports federations of Olympic and non-Olympic sports.
Putin proposed Vitaly Smirnov, honorary president of the ROC and IOC member since 1971, as the head of the new anti-doping commission.
