Putin calls for new anti-doping panel as Russian athletes face Rio ban

Vladimir Putin, left, with IOC boss Thomas Bach in 2014

James Ellingworth

Russian President Vladimir Putin has called for a new anti-doping commission to be created to shape Russia's future strategy, as the country faces possible exclusion from the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.

Putin's intervention came as former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev wrote to International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach to oppose a blanket ban on the Russian team, saying that a collective sanction was "unacceptable".