MOSCOW: Russia’s former anti-doping chief-turned-whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov is working under the control of USA special services, Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Thursday. The scandal over the 2014 Sochi Olympics, triggered by revelations made by Rodchenkov, is part of a broader doping affair that has led to the suspension of Russia’s anti-doping agency RUSADA, the country’s athletics federation and Paralympic Committee. Putin also said during his year-end news conference that the doping scandal had been fuelled deliberately before Russia’s presidential election due in March next year. He also said that both global anti-doping body WADA and the International Olympic Committee were working under duress. Published in Daily Times, December 15th 2017.