Global soccer body FIFA is still investigating allegations that footballers were among the Russian athletes who were involved in or benefited from an elaborate state-sponsored doping scheme, it said yesterday.

FIFA would not confirm a report in Britain’s Mail on Sunday newspaper that the 23 members of Russia’s squad at the 2014 World Cup were among those being investigated.

It said that the entire squad underwent pre-competition and post-match doping tests, which were all negative and which were under FIFA’s direct control.

Russia’s deputy prime minister Vitaly Mutko, who is also head of the Russian Football Union, dismissed the allegations and said there never was nor will be doping in Russian soccer.

“Don’t pay attention to this, they have been writing about us negatively since 2010,” he told the TASS news agency.

“Our national team is endlessly checked. We have doping tests at all matches. In soccer this has never been a central theme.”

A report by Canadian sports lawyer Richard McLaren in December said more than 1,000 Russian athletes competing in summer, winter and paralympic sport were involved in or benefited from an institutional conspiracy.

The report, commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said that more than 30 sports, including soccer, were involved.

“FIFA has simply confirmed that, in close collaboration with WADA, it is still investigating the allegations involving football players,” said FIFA in an emailed statement to Reuters.

FIFA said it had not referred to any particular players and “cannot comment on the status of ongoing investigations.” It said it wanted investigations to be completed quickly and that it could not provide further details until then.

“All players participating in the 2014 FIFA World Cup – including all members of the Russian squad selected – underwent pre-competition and post-match tests, all of which resulted negative,” it added.