The man at the center of the Russian doping scandal had an intense reaction to the report

Following the bombshell WADA report that accused Russia of having a "deeply rooted culture" of cheating and widespread doping use among athletes, Russia has had two reactions: balanced and intense.

Vitaly Mutko, the Russian sports minister at the center of the doping scandal, was the latter.

Mutko fired back at the report, saying Russia is being persecuted. He threatened to remove all funding from anti-doping agencies, saying (via RTE Sport):

"Whatever we do, everything is bad. If we have to close this whole system, we would be happy to close it. That would mean no funding for any Russian anti-doping agency or laboratory."

Mutko, who is also a FIFA executive committee member and in charge of the organizing committee for the 2018 World Cup, added that cutting the funding would just save Russia money.

Richard Pound, the chairman of the independent commission appointed by WADA for the report, said it was "impossible" for Mutko not to be aware of the widespread doping and cover-ups, adding, "and if he's aware of it, he's complicit in it."

Meanwhile, the Russian sports ministry as a whole released a statement Monday night saying (via AP):

"We are fully aware of the problems in the All-Russia Athletic Federation (ARAF) and we have undertaken measures to remedy the situation: there is a new president in ARAF, a new head coach, and they are currently rejuvenating the coaching staff.

"Russia has been and will continue to be fully committed to the fight against doping in sport."

The ministry also added:

"However, there is a big difference between information that journalists provide and proven facts and evidence which naturally an investigation such as this should be based on. So, we urge WADA to rely on the real facts and evidence."

According to AP, the IAAF has given the Russians athletic commission until the end of the week to respond to the report.