German athletics federation (DLV) chief Clemens Prokop has named the International Olympic Comittee (IOC) ‘a problematic actor’ in the fight against doping which according to him must be led by a truly independent organization.

Prokop told Saturday's Sueddeutsche Zeitung (SZ) that the IOC was seemingly driven by political motives when it stopped short of imposing a blanket ban on Russian athletes for last month's Rio Olympics, a decision that according to Prokop harmed the credibility of sport.

‘It is important to have an international organization in the fight against doping which is independent from sport and state,’ Prokop said.

‘For me the IOC appears to be a problematic actor in this respect. There was an impression in the debate about a Russian ban that the IOC was also driven by political motives.’  Propok said the IOC could have followed the blanket bans imposed on Russian athletes by the ruling athletics body IAAF and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) which were confirmed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

He named the sanctions against Russia in connection with wide-ranging and state-sponsored doping ‘a turning point’, and called for the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to become more independent and gain the right to impose sanctions.

Prokop also suggested that some leading figures in sport may be irritated by the growing confidence of WADA and the IPC.

He said that IOC president Thomas Bach ‘has been criticised a lot and justly that he didn't travel to the Paralympics.’ Bach cited a packed agenda but Prokop spoke of ‘priorities’ as he concluded: ‘I would have probably decided in favour of the Paralympics.’