Russian sports minister named in documentary on doping scandals

As the governing body for track and field deliberates over whether Russian athletes should be allowed to compete in the upcoming Rio Olympics, a German documentarymaker with a history of homing in on doping scandals has made a bold claim against a top Russian official.

A new reportfrom Germany's ARDincludes "allegations of an email trail tying the Russian Sports Minister VitalyMutkoto the hiding of a positive doping result from a Russian soccer star," CBC's Adrienne Arsenault reports.

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The ARD report also shows Russian coaches who were banned, caught on camera working with athletes, Arsenault reports.

Dick Pound, president of the World Anti-Doping Agency, told CBC News"it's hard to believe that they would have thought that they could get away with that."

Mutko on Wednesday said the report was an attempt to "influence the committee on the reinstatement of Russian athletics on the eve of its meeting."

TheIAAF, the international body governing track and field, is set to make its decision on whether Russian athletes can compete in Rio late next week.

Mutko also questioned the reliability of doping retests ofsamples from the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, saying they should be tossed because of alleged failings in the way the samples wereprocessed.

Watch the full video above, and follow CBC's Adrienne Arsenault for more on doping allegations.