Russia will not boycott 2016 Rio Olympics, even if track and field team is banned: Report

The Russian sports minister said that the country will not boycott the 2016 Rio de Janerio Olympics even if the track and field team is banned.

New Delhi: The Russian sports minister, Vitaly Mutko on Thursday said that the country will not boycott the 2016 Rio de Janerio Olympics even if the track and field team is banned.

Mutko said that Russia is "a dependable partner of the international Olympic movement” and the country has no intention of boycotting the Olympics.

"Russia is against a boycott. Russia is against political interference in sport. Understand that Russia is a dependable partner of the international Olympic movement," Mutko told AP.

The International Association of Athletics Federations' (IAAF) is expected to rule Friday on whether to suspend Russia from competition because of the doping scandal. If Russia is banned, the country's track and field team could be excluded from next year's Olympics in Brazil.

In between, the acting president of Russian athletics federation Vadim Zelichenok said that they are ready to own up to some of the charges leveled in the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) independent report.

"We admit some things, we argue with some things, some are already fixed, it's a variety," Zelichenok told AP.

The athletics world governing body has given Russia until Friday to come up with answers to the allegations, and with the deadline looming Russian President Vladimir Putin was forced to summoned his sports chiefs in Sochi.

"We must do everything in Russia to rid ourselves of this problem," Putin said yesterday.

(With Agency inputs)