Opinion

Russian doping scandal a major test for world sport

Unfortunately, allegations of drug misuse and corruption are nothing new in international sport but the latest scandal engulfing world athletics threatens to have widespread repercussions.

Russia faces being banned from the Rio Olympics next year after an independent commission set up by the World Anti-Doping Agency uncovered `state-sponsored' doping on a massive scale.

Some of the findings are quite shocking and include the deliberate destruction of more than 1,400 samples by Russian laboratory personnel, athletes using false identities to evade testing and the routine bribery of Russian doping control officers.

A cloud was also cast over the 2012 London Olympics which the commission said was `sabotaged' by the presence of Russian athletes who should not have been competing.

People will now ask just how widespread the culture of cheating is in world sport and how can ruling bodies stamp it out?