Russian athletics has been placed into the most glaring of spotlights today after a report from the World Anti-Doping Agency recommended that the country be suspended from competition over a doping scandal engulfing track and field.
But how have portions of the Russian media online been reacting to today's striking developments?
Interestingly, the banner on the front page of state-funded Russia Today's website in the hour after the release of the report recommendations highlighted the WADA commission statement pointing out that the country was not the only one with major doping problems.
Screengrab of RT.com front page November 11th 15:00
However, they do report the story along with quotes from Russian sports minister Vitaly Mutko and Vadim Zelechenok, acting head of the Russian Athletics Federation.
They quote Mutko, who is also a FIFA executive committee member, as saying: "A commission created by WADA has completed its work. It released a document which describes certain things and makes conclusions and certain recommendations. Don’t mix up these things – the commission cannot suspend anyone. We will release our statement about the results of the news conference.”
At just after 6pm local Moscow time, the online sports page of government-owned daily Rossiyskaya Gazeta makes no mention of the scandal with these being the main stories in the hour after the report hitting the headlines:
Screengrab sports page of Rossiyskaya Gazeta
As of 8pm Moscow time, there was still no mention of the story on the front or sports page of Rossiyskaya Gazeta.
Meanwhile, on popular daily Izvestia, the story appears on their front page but you have to look closely to spot it:
Screengrab and Google translate of Izvestia website front page
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