Around 60 footballers that play in the Russian Premier League, including members of Russia's national team, were tested for doping in the first half of the ongoing season.
The announcement follows reports that the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) included Russia’s entire 2014 World Cup squad on a list of athletes that may have benefited from Russia’s state-sponsored doping scheme.
All of the tests were carried out by RUSADA, the Russian Anti-Doping Agency, and came back negative, the Championat sports website reported Friday.
Among those tested were 15 national players who competed for Russia in 2017. They include footballers that whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov said were part of a doping program during the 2014 World Cup, notably goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev and midfielder Alan Dzagoev.
Almost 20 players from the Russian national team have still not been tested, including Spartak Moscow star players Denis Glushakov and Alexander Samedov.
Players from CSKA Moscow, Lokomotiv Moscow and Krasnodar were tested the most. Eight players from CSKA underwent tests, while the other two teams had seven players tested. FC Zenit St. Petersburg had six players tested. Only two clubs in the Russian Premier League, Tosno and Amkar, did not undergo any tests.
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