MOSCOW (AP) FIFA says Russians will be prevented from having access to any doping controls at the World Cup.
All samples taken at June 14 to July 15 tournament will be flown from Russia to a laboratory in Lausanne, Switzerland, on the day they are collected.
Russia has been accused of systematic cheating at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
FIFA medical chief Michel D’Hooghe says “nothing will be in the hands of the Russian organizers. It will be FIFA doctors from all over the world.”
D’Hooghe adds that “with the rumors around Russia, it’s one reason more to say we give nothing of the doping control to Russian doctors, to the Russian authorities, to the local organizing committee.”