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Russia doctor questions treatment after '44 drug tests' at Euro 2016

Russia coach Leonid Slutsky (3rd R) speaks to his players   during a training session at the Velodrome Stadium in Marseille, southeastern France
Image: Russia players in training before their 1-1 draw with England at Euro 2016 on Saturday

Russia's team doctor says anti-doping officials visited the team camp four times in the run-up to Euro 2016.

Inspectors have carried out 44 tests, according to Dr Eduard Bezuglov, who has questioned whether other teams at the finals are being treated the same.

Russian sport has been hit by doping scandal in recent months, and the country's athletes still do not know if they will be allowed to participate at this summer's Olympic Games.

But sports minister Vitaly Mutko last week dismissed an allegation he helped cover up a top footballer's positive drug test as "silly" and Dr Bezuglov, speaking at a press conference in France, said there is nothing in the history of Russian football to warrant such heavy scrutiny from the authorities.

"We have been asking this question to ourselves," he said. "Whether we have been tested more than others. All national teams are under the control of UEFA and FIFA, and before the group stages of the competition the Russian national team were already visited more than three times by doping control inspectors.

"First they inspected 10 people at a time, then on the 4th time they just looked at four people. All this is happening at 7am, and these inspectors even broke a record once by coming at 6.30am.

Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko attends a ceremony to mark the 1000-day countdown to the 2018 FIFA World Cup at Red Square in Moscow (18.9.15)
Image: Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko has denied allegations of a doping cover-up

"But we treat all this with understanding. We don't know whether this is the same for the other teams, and maybe they don't get inspected that often; however, there is a hope that everybody is treated equally.   

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"And I am saying this is because the Russian national football team has never had any precedents of this kind. We have never had a single problem like that.

"And this is throughout the whole history of Russian football - and I would like to emphasise that - the number of doping tests in Russian football has always been well above the requirement and we have never had any problems like that whatsoever. 

MARSEILLE, FRANCE - JUNE 11: Russian players celebrate their team's first goal while Igor Akinfeev (L) and Dele Alli (R) of England show their frustration
Image: Russia celebrate their late equalising goal against England in Marseille

"So we do understand that any information from any kind of media source - even if it is from India - is a reason to come to us at 6.30am to test our football players. So like I said the players treat this with understanding, but we will never give you the satisfaction of having your suspicions come true."

Dr Bezuglov then asked an English journalist how many times England's players had been tested and was told his questioner could not provide the answer.

"They don't know?," he said. "English media knows everything! In Russia we think that English people know everything about their football team.

"So they have not been tested, am I right? So now we can compare - we have been tested 44 times and the English - not at all. So here you go, here is the answer for you."

Asked for a response to Bezuglov's comments, UEFA told The Associated Press that it does not provide figures on the number of tests conducted for each team.

The body has said its anti-doping program for Euro 2016 is the largest ever conducted at a European Championships and would feature "extensive out-of-competition testing, in-competition tests at every match and targeted testing based on intelligence and knowledge-sharing."

Contacted by the AP, the English Football Association said it would not be revealing any information on how many tests England's players have had before or during the Euros.

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