"We have taken note of the report ‘German TV: Russian Team Took Doping During Match With The ‘Greens’ [the Saudi national football team]’ published in the official Saudi Sada media outlet on June 19, 2018. Now, the Saudi media have joined the defamation campaign against Russian athletes who are being groundlessly accused of the use of performance enhancing substances," the ministry said in a rebuttal statement.

The ministry noted that the publication, citing an unnamed German TV, claimed that the Russian special services were complicit in concealing the alleged use of doping by the Russian footballers, with FIFA being unable to prove anything. The article concluded that the Russian national team had beaten the Saudis 5-0 during the June 14 World Cup opening match in Moscow only due to the alleged use of prohibited substances. The statement also mentioned @almaniahcom Twitter account, which cited the ARD broadcaster alleging possible doping violations by Russian footballers.

The ministry recalled that, back in May, FIFA had completed an investigation into possible anti-doping rule violations by Russian football players, finding no sufficient evidence to claim that any of those who were to take part in the World Cup had committed any violations.

The statement also pointed to "friendly handshakes" that Russian President Vladimir Putin and Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman, who watched the opening match together, had exchanged after the scored goals.

The ministry concluded by expressing hope that reading Sada’s "fake" publication would trigger among Saudi fans feelings opposite to those intended by those who had commissioned the article.

Back in 2015, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) accused Russia of multiple doping violations and suspended the Moscow laboratory of RUSADA, the Russian National Anti-Doping Agency. The following year, Richard McLaren, the head of a WADA investigative team, presented a two-part report that alleged the existence of a state-supported doping program in Russia, after Grigory Rodchenkov, a former director of the Moscow laboratory, who fled to the United States, said that the laboratory was involved in developing and distributing banned performance enhancing substances for Russian athletes.

The doping scandal led to several sanctions against the Russian athletes. Some of them were stripped of their medals, others banned from participating in 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. In December 2017, the IOC decided to impose restrictions on the Russian national team ahead of the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea. Only "clean" athletes were allowed to participate under the neutral flag.

Back in May 2018, FIFA re-analysed samples of all players mentioned in the McLaren reports and other high-level footballers for prohibited substances, and all results were negative.