Russian Sport Minister Vitaly Mutko said that he believes that the problems created by the meldonium doping scandal — the biggest in Russia’s history — will soon be resolved, the state-run R-Sport news agency reported Tuesday.
“We will figure out the situation with meldonium, everything will be fine. It was a pitfall. I hope that in the coming days there will be good news. [The issue with meldonium] is not only related to Russia,” the lawmaker said in a meeting with figure skaters Yevgeny Medvedev and Anna Pogorilaya, R-Sport reported.
“I think there will be a solution to the matter in the near future, but for the most part, Russian sport is developing. Fundamentally, Russian sport is a world leader and no attempts to cast a shadow over this with some kind of doping scandal can change that,” he added.
The doping scandal connected to the use of meldonium — banned since Jan. 1, 2016 — came to light at the beginning of March. Tennis star Maria Sharapova is the highest profile Russian athlete to test positive for the drug.
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