Doping not a big problem in the sport: FIFA president Infantino
1 Dec 2017 5:30 PM GMT
Moscow: FIFA president Gianni Infantino on Friday sought to distance football from any suspicions of the widespread doping in other sports that has cast a cloud over World Cup hosts Russia.
Russia have been stripped of a third of the medals they won as hosts of the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi and last week a ban on the country taking part in international athletics was upheld by the sport's governing body the IAAF.
Infantino claimed that the level of testing in football is sufficient to show that the game is largely clean.
"I don't think there are many other international sports organisations who are doing as many anti-doping tests as football is doing, with FIFA, UEFA or national associations, in and out of competition, blood, urine, biological passports," Infantino said during a press conference in the Kremlin in Moscow ahead of the 2018 World Cup draw.
"Professional players in top teams play 50 or 60 matches every year. They are tested, I don't know how many times every year.
"If you would have a serious doping issue in football this would be known by now, whether in Russia or any other country of the world."
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