Pole vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva has accused United States, Britain, Germany and Kenya of "systematic doping" on another day of Russian attempts to defend their right to send an athletics team to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. 

The All-Russia Athletic Federation was suspended by the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) in November following allegations of state-sponsored doping published by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Independent Commission.

In a rare conciliatory moment, Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko said on Monday he assumed full responsibility over a recent chain of alleged doping scandals involving national athletes and had no intentions of hiding in case they proved to be true.

He claims to have "no intentions of hiding in case they proved to be true".

But the official also criticised the timing of a fresh documentary on Russian doping due to be aired of German television network ARD on June 8.

This all comes ahead of this week's International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board meeting in Lausanne, viewed as a major, if unofficial, step on the road to the IAAF Council meeting in Vienna on June 17 at which a final decision will be made.

Isinbayeva, an influential figure who is seeking to be elected onto the IOC Athletes' Commission, claims other countries have just as bad anti-doping records as Russia.

It follows her vow to sue for "a violation of her human rights" if she is not allowed to compete.

Yelena Isinbayeva believes a ban of Russia at Rio 2016 would be hypocritical and unfair ©Getty Images
Yelena Isinbayeva believes a ban of Russia at Rio 2016 would be hypocritical and unfair ©Getty Images


"I'm not responsible for other people's actions, I did not break the rules," the two-time Olympic champion, who has never been implicated in a doping scandal, told sport.ru.

"I have always acted honestly, and I will speak honestly - I will not let anyone deprive me of those rights that I deserve.

"We know that in other countries, such as USA, UK, Germany, Kenya, athletes were disqualified. 

"They quietly sat out two years, not stopping exercise, and then came back to win, and set records. 

"We know that there is a systematic doping."

She claims the alleged inconsistency is "quite incomprehensible" and "unfair"

"I trained for five years abroad with another coach," the 33-year-old, the Mayor of the Athletes' Village during Sochi 2014, added.

"They came to me to take a drug test foreign agents, the samples were always negative.

"So why should I sit at home and do not set world records?"

Mutko, meanwhile, blended of contriteness with a defence of Russia during the Pozner television talk show onRussian Channel One.

"I have never avoided taking the blame since I am fully responsible for the development and implementation of the sports policies,"

"In case something goes wrong I bear the full responsibility and do not intend to go into hiding."

But in a separate interview with R-sport, he criticised the timing of a new documentary due to be produced by Hajo Seppelt, the same German journnalist who published the initial allegations surrounding the Russian athletics team in December 2014.

"They are announcing yet another film," he said.

"I can assume that again there will be the demonstration of yet another documentary or an article right before the IAAF Council Meeting on June 17.

"It'll be something along the lines that Russians cannot be trusted, and so forth."

He also refuted the claims of former Moscow Laboratory director Grigory Rodchenkov that a state sponsored doping operation was implemented at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics in which up to 15 Russian medal winners had urine samples replaced with fake ones.

"Any attempt to open a [doping] sample cannot go unnoticed," Mutko said.

"It is simply impossible and every stage [of doping test] was not under our control.

"I cannot confirm his [Rodchenkov’s] allegations.

"The Government was not involved in it."