The honorary president of Russia’s Olympic Committee says the whistleblower who exposed Moscow's doping program ‘should be shot, like Stalin would have done’

Leonid Tyagachev, the honorary president of Russia’s Olympic Committee, has proposed executing Grigory Rodchenkov, the Russian scientist who says he orchestrated a massive state-sponsored doping program.

“Rodchenkov just needs to be shot for [spreading] untruths, like Stalin would have done,” Tyagachev said in an interview with the radio station Govorit Moskva.

He also said Russia would boycott the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, if some of its athletes are banned from competition or forbidden from participating under Russia’s flag.

Testimony by Grigory Rodchenkov formed the basis of the World Anti-Doping Agency’s conclusion that Russian athletes systematically used banned performance-enhancing drugs. Russian officials have acknowledged isolated violations, but denied claims that the government orchestrated a cheating program.

This month, WADA ruled that Russia remains “non-compliant” with its code, leaving in place the suspension of Russia’s anti-doping agency (RUSADA). The decision is likely to add more pressure on the International Olympic Committee to ban Russian athletes from the 2018 Winter Games, according to Reuters.