MOSCOW: Russia would be ready to appoint a foreign expert to head its anti-doping laboratory, the sports minister said Wednesday, after the former director of the facility quit following the lab’s suspension over allegations from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

“We are absolutely open and ready as a result of consultations with WADA to appoint even a foreign specialist to lead the laboratory if it is necessary,” minister Vitaly Mutko told R-Sport news agency.

WADA has accused ex-laboratory head 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.

His resignation came after WADA suspended Moscow’s heavily criticized anti-doping laboratory on Tuesday, the day after releasing its explosive, 335-page report on the scandal.

Russia has tried to shrug off the eye-watering allegations from WADA of corruption and doping, with the Kremlin calling the claims “groundless.”

Already made reforms

Meanwhile, Russian track federation vice president Tatyana Lebedeva, a former Olympic long jump champion, says the organization has carried out enough reforms to deserve a place at next year’s Olympics despite the doping scandal.

Lebedeva said “our federation has done everything possible that was in its power” to reform over the last year, since a German documentary about systematic doping in Russia aired.

The federation has prepared a response to the IAAF over the allegations ahead of a meeting Friday that will determine whether to suspend Russia, the first step toward potentially barring the country’s track and field team from the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

Lebedeva appealed to new IAAF President Sebastian Coe to allow Russia to compete at next year’s Olympics, saying “he gave us the chance to carry out that restart, that restructuring that we’ve done and we hope that he will value our labor and give us the chance to compete in that good, positive tone.”

Mutko slams Britain

Russian Sports Minister Vitaly Mutko has slammed Britain, saying its anti-doping system is worth “zero” if it failed to catch drug cheats at the 2012 Olympics.

Monday’s report into Russian doping by a World Anti-Doping Agency commission said six athletes with previous suspicious test results competed at the London Olympics, where drug tests were handled by a British laboratory.

In remarks reported by Russia’s Interfax news agency, Mutko said that if athletes doped and weren’t caught in London, “then your system is zero and even worse than ours.”

Mutko also said it was “absurd” that his membership on the FIFA executive committee should be reviewed in light of the report, which said his ministry helped to cover up doping cases.

Meeting canceled

Russian President Vladimir Putin has canceled a meeting with sports leaders, scheduled to be held in Sochi on Wednesday in the wake of the country’s doping scandal.

Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov was quoted by Russian state news agencies as saying the reason for the cancelation was heavy rain that has restricted flights in and out of Sochi, the host city of last year’s Winter Olympics.

Putin had been due to discuss the doping allegations against Russia, with track federation coach Yuri Borzakovsky in attendance.

The sports leaders have instead arranged a meeting in the city of Mineralnye Vody with Russian Olympic Committee president Alexander Zhukov.

Putin is to be briefed separately later, according to Peskov.

Diack from IOC

Lamine Diack has resigned as an honorary member of the International Olympic Committee.

The resignation came Wednesday, a day after the former IAAF president was provisionally suspended by the IOC executive board.

Diack was placed under investigation by French authorities last week on charges of corruption and money-laundering related to the cover-up of Russian doping cases.

Diack served as a full IOC member for 15 years until 2014, when he reached the mandatory retirement age of 80 and became an honorary member. The Senegalese official stepped down in August as president of the IAAF after 16 years in charge of track’s governing body.