Russia blames Britain for failing to nab cheats at London 2012 Olympics

Russia’s sports minister Vitaly Mutko has gone on the offensive ahead of a likely provisional suspension for the country claiming Britain’s anti-doping system was “even worse than ours” if it failed to catch cheats at the London 2012 Olympics.

Athletics’ world governing body, the IAAF, is expected to provisionally suspend Russia at a meeting of its ruling council on Friday ahead of a formal disciplinary hearing, following revelations of systemic doping in the country.

It follows a report by a World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) independent commission which detailed “state-sponsored” doping and cover-ups in Russia.