Russia’s Mariya Savinova (left) and Ekaterina Poistogova celebrate after winning gold and bronze respectively in the women’s 800m final at the 2012 London Olympics. While Poistogova has been named in the latest allegations, Savinova was also accused of doping in a documentary aired by German television channel ARD last year. (AFP)

Agencies/Paris /Moscow

The IAAF dismissed on Tuesday as “sensationalist and confusing” allegations of mass doping that have rocked the world of athletics in the build-up to this month’s world championships in Beijing.
In its first official reaction to the affair, world athletics’ governing body said it “strongly rejected” allegations of hundreds of suspicious blood tests from athletes.
It insisted it was taking every possible measure to combat doping.
“The published allegations were sensationalist and confusing,” the International Association of Athletics Federations claimed in their much-anticipated statement.
The IAAF’s 4,000-word detailed and robust response follows three days of stormy headlines since the weekend allegations by German television channel ARD and British newspaper The Sunday Times.
They obtained a database of 12,000 tests taken on 5,000 athletes which revealed “extraordinary” levels of doping.
Australian doping experts Michael Ashenden and Robin Parisot examined the results for ARD and the paper.  
They said one third of athletics medals in endurance events at world championships and Olympics between 2001 and 2012 had given suspicious tests.
And they said that 800 athletes in disciplines from 800m to the marathon registered values considered suspicious or highly suspicious.  
The IAAF however hit back, saying there was no perfect system for catching drug cheats and insisted it “has been at the forefront of drug testing for many years”.
It said “the results referred to were not positive tests. In fact, ARD and The Sunday Times both admit that their evaluation of the data did not prove doping”.
It boasted that “under its pioneering Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) system, more athletes have been banned for cheating by the IAAF than all other sports federations and national anti-doping agencies put together”.
The organisation pointed out that “a large proportion of these blood samples were collected in a period before the implementation of the ABP and cannot therefore be used as proof of doping”.
It also took a pot shot at World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), who had said it was “very alarmed” by the new allegations.
“The IAAF is surprised by WADA’s comments, particularly given how closely it has worked with WADA over the entire period to try to advance the fight against blood doping, notably in assisting in the development and implementation of the Athlete Biological Passport.”
The IAAF also cited their own blood doping expert, Professor Giuseppe d’Onofrio, a leading expert in the field.
“Ethically, I deplore public comments coming from colleagues on blood data that has been obtained and processed outside of the strict regulatory framework established by WADA which is designed to ensure a complete and fair review of ABP profiles,” said Professor d’Onofrio.
“There is no space for shortcuts, simplistic approaches or sensationalism when athletes’ careers and reputations are at stake.”
The two countries mainly targeted by the allegations, Russia and Kenya, have also issued strong rebuttals.  
Kenya have called the claims “libellous” while Russian athletics chief Vadim Zelichenok said they were based on “biased material, which isn’t based on facts”.
Speaking to Reuters, Vladimir Kazarin, the coach of two Russian athletes alleged to have submitted suspicious blood samples, said the accusations were unfounded. “If you have official positive doping tests, show us. If not, goodbye,” he said in a telephone interview.
The 62-year-old, who has coached the Russian women’s athletics team since 2002, was the subject of an earlier ARD documentary on doping last year.
“This second film is unimaginable nonsense,” Kazarin said. “It is simply ridiculous.
“The Russian athletes who appear ... they do not even want to watch these films, they do not take them seriously.”
The results of 12,000 blood tests from over 5,000 athletes which were leaked to the two media organisations show more than 800 athletes had submitted samples which were abnormal or “highly suggestive” of doping. Of those, 415 were Russian.
Russia’s Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) said it would investigate the latest accusations against Russian athletes and submit its results to the World Anti-Doping Agency.
But RUSADA, which is already investigating last year’s German documentary, cast doubt on the new charges. “First of all, we assert that the information ... is either not true or speaks of the incompetence of the film’s authors,” it said in a statement issued on Monday.
Runner Ekaterina Poistogova, who won a bronze medal at the London 2012 Olympics, said she had nothing to hide after being named in the investigation.
“I do not believe one word of this film,” she told news agency R-Sport. “The whole thing is a lie. It is more important for me to get ready to compete.”
Some of the named athletes were competing in the Russian city of Cheboksary on the Volga River on Tuesday, where they hope to be selected for the world athletics championships in Beijing later this month.
Kazarin filed a lawsuit against ARD filmmaker Hajo Seppelt after last year’s documentary but said training his athletes was now more important.
“We won’t take this bullshit to court. We have a lot of work, in particular at the championship in Cheboksary,” he said. “I don’t want to be distracted by things like that.”