Putin: Olympic ban on Russian athletes result of political campaign (Reuters)

By Denis Dyomkin MOSCOW (Reuters) – President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday blamed a shadowy campaign for unfairly stripping some Russian sports people of the right to compete at the Rio Olympics over doping allegations, hitting out at what he called short-sighted political schemers. Putin, addressing members of Russia’s Olympic team in the Kremlin, said that the decision by international sporting organizations to ban some Russian athletes from the games, flew in the face of common sense and legality. “The deliberate campaign targeting our athletes was characterized by so-called double standards and opted for the idea of collective responsibility, which is not compatible with sport, justice in general, or the basic norms of law,” said Putin.