Moscow
: Vladimir Putin Wednesday ordered an inquiry into allegations of -"state-supported-" drug abuse in athletics that have left Russia facing a possible Olympics ban, but insisted any punishment should be individual and not collective.
At a meeting of the country's sports chiefs, the Russian president said they must do everything they could to stamp out doping, following the World Anti-Doping Agency's (WADA) bombshell report.
The report by an independent commission outlined systematic doping in Russian athletics and large-scale corruption reaching up to government levels and there have been calls for Russia to be banned from all athletics competitions.
-"We must do everything in Russia to rid ourselves of this problem,-" Putin said in footage shown on Russian television of the meeting in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, which hosted the 2014 Winter Olympics.
-"We must carry out our own internal inquiry,-" Putin said, telling Russian sports officials to show -"the most open and professional cooperation with international anti-doping authorities-".
-"This problem does not exist only in Russia, but if our foreign colleagues have questions, we must answer them,-" he said.
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) is due to meet in Monaco on Friday to discuss whether to suspend Russia from international competition -- including next year's Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Russia's Olympic Committee issued a plea to IAAF chief Sebastian Coe not to sacrifice the dreams of clean competitors, a stance reiterated by Putin -- himself a keen sportsman.
-"If someone breaks the rules on doping, the responsibility should be individual,-" the Kremlin leader said.
-"Athletes who have never touched doping should not pay for those who have transgressed.-"
Russia, accused by WADA of -"sabotaging-" the last Olympic Games, finished fourth in the medals table at London 2012.
WADA accused the head of Russia's anti-doping laboratory, Grigory Rodchenkov, of being at the heart of a scheme to cover up widespread use of illegal drugs among Russian athletes, including deliberately destroying positive test samples.
