You're reading: Duma passes bill criminalizing doping use in sport

MOSCOW — The Russian State Duma passed a bill criminalizing the use of doping in sport at the second and the third (final) reading on Thursday.

While the parliamentarians were working on the bill proposed by Ildar Gilmutdinov, Dmitry Svishchev, and Marat Bariyev, the government submitted its amendments mitigating the penalties for some offenses in this area.

In particular, the amendments suggested that a coach or another specialist inducing an athlete to use doping should be punished by a fine of up to 300,000 rubles and a ban on practicing certain activities for up to three years, or freedom restriction for up to one year.