Summer Olympics were overshadowed with the Russian doping scandal before they even started and just now their officials are admitting an existence of the state-backed campaign of doping.

“It was an institutional conspiracy,” Anna Antseliovich, the acting director of Russia’s national anti-doping agency, told the New York Times yesterday.

Reportedly director of laboratory meddled with urine samples at the Olympics in addition to providing PEDs to athletes.

Members of the Federal Security Service, a successor to the K.G.B., broke into sample bottles holding urine. And a deputy sports minister for years ordered cover-ups of top athletes’ use of banned substances.

The officials, however, continue to reject the accusation that the doping program was state-sponsored. They define the Russian state as President Vladimir Putin and his closest associates.

“We have to find those reasons why young sportsmen are taking doping, why they agree to be doped,” Mr. Smirnov said.

Smirnov is a top sports official appointed in 2016 by Vladimir Putin to reform Russian antidoping system.

This was previously a claim that was disputed by Russia in spite of what the report of World Anti Doping Agency that claims there’s evidence that more than 1000 Russian athletes (in over 30 sports) were in state sponsored doping between 2011 and 2015.

Disciplinary action is opened against 28 Russian athletes who have competed in 2014 in Sochi. IOC stated on the matter:

“At this point in time, these 28 new cases are not AAFs [adverse analytical findings], like a positive doping test. However, the manipulation of the samples themselves could lead to an anti-doping rule violation and sanctions.”