Russia responds as doping scandal threatens to spread

Russia rejected on Nov. 10 explosive accusations of doping and corruption and promised a rapid response to avoid suspension from the 2016 Olympics due to the scandal that threatens to spread far beyond the borders of Russia and athletics.

"Until any proof has been put forward, it is hard to accept any accusations as they seem rather groundless," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.

Meanwhile, the Moscow anti-doping laboratory was stripped of its accreditation by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in the first concrete measure taken since the publishing of a damning report by a WADA independent commission.

Athletics was rocked by allegations of Russian "state-sponsored" doping contained in the report published on Nov. 9.

IAAF President Sebastian Coe has given the Russian athletics federation (ARAF) "until the end of the week" to respond or risk possible suspension.

Despite the Kremlin's dismissive reaction, ARAF assured Coe that it would contact the IAAF "in the very near future" outlining its anti-doping program and "its reaction to the deductions and conclusions" in WADA's report.

Calls for Russia, fourth in the 2012 London Olympics medal table, to be banned from next year's Olympic Games are growing.

U.K. Athletics chief Ed Warner told BBC Radio 4: "Lord Coe... says that his [IAAF] council is meeting on Friday or Saturday to consider sanctioning Russia and possibly to suspend them. My strong advice would be: you've absolutely got to do that."

That view was echoed by Australia's National Olympic Committee.

"We would very much support Russian track and field athletes not being allowed to compete in Rio if their federation is not code-compliant to WADA," the 2016 Australian Olympic team...