World Cup 2018: Doping chief tells Fifa to 'urgently' conclude investigation into Russia - and not be afraid to ban hosts

Joseph de Pencier, the chief executive of iNADO, has implored world football’s governing body to urgently conclude their investigation and not be afraid to take action

Russian president Vladimir Putin with Fifa president Gianni Infantino (Getty)

The head of the umbrella group of national anti-doping agencies has called on Fifa to “urgently” conclude their investigation into whether the Russian football team was part of a state-sponsored doping programme ahead of next summer’s World Cup – and said that they must consider expelling the hosts.

Joseph de Pencier, the chief executive of iNADO, has implored world football’s governing body to get to the bottom of an allegation contained inside the McLaren report that football was among the sports involved in Russia’s wide-ranging doping initiative.

The Wada-commissioned report claimed that a minimum of eleven positive tests among footballers had been covered up, and Russia’s entire 23-man World Cup squad were among cases that Fifa are supposed to have been investigating.

But Fifa have repeatedly provided vague answers when asked about the state of their inquiry - which has moved at a glacial pace.

With Russia hosting next year's World Cup, for which Friday’s draw has once again brought the focus of the sporting world to Moscow, De Pencier urged Fifa to "get to the bottom" of its own investigation.

"Fifa absolutely has to investigate this as an urgent matter and they have got to do it in good faith and with a will. Otherwise, they run the risk of having a big cloud over their event," he told Reuters.

"They have every incentive to get to the bottom of this and do it as quickly as possible."

And De Pencier went as far as to say that Fifa must consider – and should not be afraid of - expelling Russia from its own tournament.

“Any multi-national sporting competition can carry on without a particular country being there, why couldn’t the World Cup in Russia? I acknowledge as a practical matter it’s hard to imagine that scenario and also the consequences that might cause, but why not?” he said.

Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Mutko this month described allegations of doping in Russian soccer as "stupidity".

Fifa said in a statement that it was working in close collaboration with Wada "following their guidance and exploring every possible avenue." It said it wanted the investigation finished quickly but that "robust procedures take time."

Fifa said it had undertaken "comprehensive actions to identify potential anti-doping rule violations including retesting of all available samples" and that investigations remain open.

Additional reporting by agencies