Meeting of Russian Olympic Committee Demanded In Relation to Doping

Lebedev spoke during a press conference regarding the need to convene urgently an extraordinary session of the Russian Olympic Committee, but asked not to politicize the situation.

He deplored that athletes that 'were the hope for the Olympics' this summer in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, are involved in the new doping scandal, reported Interfax.

Along with tennis player Maria Sharapova, figure skater Ekaterina Bobrova (champion in the Sochi 2014 winter sports games); Pavel Kulizhnikov, speed skating and short track, Semyon Elistratov, as well as volleyball player Alexander Markin, tested positive in the tests for meldonium.

The substance was included earlier this year in the list of substances prohibited by the World Anti-Doping Agency. Earlier, the deputy of the Duma tweeted that not a single professional athlete consumes something without the advice of their doctor, blaming directly the heads of the federations.

According to Lebedev, the negligence of doctors, coaches and sports managers led to those problems.

The head of the Committee of Physical Culture of the Duma, Dmitry Svishchev, supported, meanwhile, a criminal responsibility for doping in sport.

The deputy also reported that the relevant committee of the Parliament will meet on Thursday to discuss the situation in the Russian sport and the respective documents on the recent scandal.

Svishchev ruled out, however, disqualifying the national team to the 2016 Rio Olympics, 'no matter how unpleasant the situation,' he added.

Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko warned that other cases of use of the banned substance might appear, in an isolated manner, he said, agreeing that coaches, doctors, physiotherapists and managers of the federations are responsible for the doping.