Russia has refused World Cup accreditation to a journalist specializing in investigations into illegal doping whom German public television had asked to include on its team covering the upcoming soccer tournament, the broadcaster said on Friday, Reuters informed.
Germany’s ARD television had hoped to send its investigative sports reporter Hajo Seppelt after Russian sport was rocked by a series of scandals involving its athletes using performance enhancing drugs at international sports events.
The broadcaster said Seppelt had been declared persona non grata, barred from entering Russia, in response to its request to accredit the journalist, who has reported on doping scandals in Germany, China and Kenya as well as Russia.
The refusal of accreditation to report on a major sports event was “unique in the history of ARD’s sports journalism,” the broadcaster said, describing the refusal as an “unheard-of violation of press freedom”.
The Russia-hosted World Cup begins next month after a series of doping scandals in recent years that led to scores of Russian athletes being barred from competition at major international events and the suspension of several Russian sports federations.
