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Prosecutor General's Office to Verify Allegations of Russian Doping

Sang Tan / AP

The Russian Prosecutor General's Office has launched an investigation into recent allegations of doping by Russian athletes during the Olympics in Beijing, London and Sochi, the Interfax news agency reported Thursday.

The checks will be carried out together with other law enforcement agencies, the Sports Ministry and the Russian Olympic Committee, Interfax reported, citing Alexander Kurennoi, a spokesman for the Prosecutor General's Office.

According to Kurennoi, the supervisory authority is planning to send requests to the United States and other countries' competent authorities as well as to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in order to exchange information on the doping allegations that have appeared in the media.

In a story published last week by The New York Times, Grigory Rodchenkov, the former head of the Russian anti-doping laboratory, described how dozens of Russian athletes were involved in a state-run doping program during the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

WADA immediately opened an investigation into the allegations.

President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach told the German newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) that the Russian national team could be banned from participating in the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro if allegations of a state-run doping scheme are verified, the RIA Novosti news agency reported Wednesday.

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