Russia will face any ''necessary actions and sanctions'' after investigators alleged that soccer players had suspicious drug-test samples covered up as part of a wider doping scandal in the 2018 World Cup host nation, FIFA President Gianni Infantino said Wednesday. Five suspicious samples in the Russian men's under-17 and under-21 national teams in 2013 and 2014 were exposed in emails released earlier this month by the World Anti-Doping Agency, accompanying investigator Richard McLaren's report into Russian doping. Then-sports minister Vitaly Mutko, who is also in charge of Russia's World Cup preparations, has been accused of covering up a doping case in the Russian league.
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